The Bush (Manufacturing?) Economy

Despite the well publicized death of American manufacturing, the numbers don't lie.

"manufacturing output is measured by the Federal Reserve as part of its broader gauge of industrial production, based on an index in which 1997 equals 100. The index hit a high of 118.4 in June 2000 and then went as low as 110.3 in December 2001. It has risen since the middle of last year, hitting 118.7 in September. What this means is that manufacturers are once again producing as much as they did at the peak of the boom." Wall Street Journal October 25, 2004

But it gets better, one of the main factors driving manufacturing growth is exports "Total exports were growing at about a 14% annual rate during the second half of 2003 but have slowed to a little over 7% during the first half of this year."

While we all know that fewer people work in manufacturing, the fact is that the US is manufacturing more than it ever has. The reason for both is simple, increased productivity, driven by technology and efficiency. American workers are the most productive workers in the world.

American manufacturing can compete successfully with the best around the world, especially in high value added products. Despite what John Kerry and other protectionists (yes, that is a fair tag for Kerry) would tell you, the United States is not being hollowed out, or sold out to other nations. The world is a tough place, but our guys are doing well, although you would never know that by watching the evening news or a Democrat campaign ad. Even more important, this data shows that if we turn our back on the global economy (even if we do it in the name of jobs, labor or environmental standards), the result would be a disaster for the US.

Timothy Burger