Louis Hyman, an American writer, economic historian, and old college friend of mine, recently shared an interesting report from the Congressional Research Service on the state of U.S. manufacturing.
It's notable for some counter-intuitive results. Here's the high level findings:
The United States remained the largest manufacturing country in 2010, although its share of global manufacturing activity has declined in recent years.
Manufacturing output has grown more rapidly in the United States over the past decade than in most European countries and Japan, although it has lagged China, Korea, and other countries in Asia.
Employment in manufacturing has fallen in most major manufacturing countries over the past two decades. The United States saw a disproportionately large drop between 2000 and 2010, but its decline in manufacturing employment since 1990 is in line with the changes in several European countries and Japan.
U.S. manufacturers spend far more on research and development (R&D) than those in any other country, but manufacturers’ R&D spending is rising more rapidly in China, Korea, Mexico, and Taiwan.
A large share of manufacturing R&D in the United States takes place in high- technology sectors, particularly pharmaceutical and electronic instrument manufacturing, whereas in other countries a far greater proportion of manufacturers’ R&D outlays occur in medium-technology sectors such as motor vehicle and machinery manufacturing.
What's most interesting about this is that the Congressional Research Service is non-partisan and is an excellent source of deep research reports. It looks like the U.S. is still a manufacturing power house with deep investment in R&D. Hard to believe with all the doom and gloom you hear about manufacturing in the U.S.
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