tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806884.post4904927090584821032..comments2023-10-31T03:18:26.963-07:00Comments on Great Guys Weblog: Manufacturing AgainBrethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15063508651955739056noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806884.post-90665822285500827722007-12-14T21:32:00.000-08:002007-12-14T21:32:00.000-08:00I gave up caring very much 30-some years ago when ...I gave up caring very much 30-some years ago when doing an interview with the dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Business.<BR/><BR/>He had written a book predicting that the economy was or soon would be over half 'service.' So I read the book.<BR/><BR/>Among the service industries were railroads, previously counted by every economic historian I'd ever heard of as heavy industry.Harry Eagarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04196202758858876402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806884.post-15588218330470776392007-12-10T12:27:00.000-08:002007-12-10T12:27:00.000-08:00Will:still, my question would be why should our de...Will:<BR/><BR/><I>still, my question would be why should our definition of "manufacturing" include only someone on an assembly line? If it's the health of an industry we're looking at, I see little reason to adapt such a restrictive bright line.</I><BR/><BR/>Good point. I don't see why, either.<BR/><BR/>Spinning lug nuts on an assembly line counts as a manufacturing job.<BR/><BR/>Building Big Macs does not.<BR/><BR/>Why? I sure dunno.<BR/><BR/>The CPI, which is hardly, if at all, adjusted for hedonic inflation, (never mind its considering things like changes in raw material prices as "inflation"), hopelessly exaggerates inflation.<BR/><BR/>Similarly, manufacturing statistics, because they, in effect, play a shell game with employment numbers, distort the actual picture nearly beyond recognition.Hey Skipperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10798930502187234974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806884.post-24671169034195854102007-12-10T11:04:00.000-08:002007-12-10T11:04:00.000-08:00Ah, thanks for the link to the CATO link, Brett. ...Ah, thanks for the link to the CATO link, Brett. Very interesting.<BR/><BR/>Skipper, even if that is true, still, my question would be why should our definition of "manufacturing" include only someone on an assembly line? If it's the health of an industry we're looking at, I see little reason to adapt such a restrictive bright line.Willhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17009868509082558314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806884.post-76052237253909022442007-12-09T19:17:00.000-08:002007-12-09T19:17:00.000-08:00It is also important to fully understand how jobs ...It is also important to fully understand how jobs become counted as "manufacturing."<BR/><BR/>AFAIK, if an accountant works for a manufacturing company, say, Ford, then that is a manufacturing job.<BR/><BR/>Should Ford outsource that service, that accountants new job will be a "service" job.<BR/><BR/>Tends to skew the stats a bit.Hey Skipperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10798930502187234974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806884.post-20914743789255075802007-12-08T21:58:00.000-08:002007-12-08T21:58:00.000-08:00Will,Manufacturing has actually been pretty stable...Will,<BR/><BR/>Manufacturing has actually been pretty stable over the last fifty years as a percentage of GDP. According to http://www.cato.org/research/articles/reynolds-030831.html:<BR/><BR/>"manufacturing's share of the U.S. economy, as measured by real GDP, has been stable since the late 1940s.... It is impressive for any private activity to maintain a stable share of GDP, since government spending has risen from about 20 percent of GDP in the early 1950s to 30 percent since the 1980s."<BR/><BR/>As a fraction of the private sector, it's very close to the same size it was 50 years ago.Brethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15063508651955739056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806884.post-44707801880853565122007-12-08T20:45:00.000-08:002007-12-08T20:45:00.000-08:00Very true indeed, thanks for the post.I do think i...Very true indeed, thanks for the post.<BR/><BR/>I do think it's fair to point out, though, that if you looked at manufacturing as a percentage of national output over the past fifty years you'd see a different sort of graph.Willhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17009868509082558314noreply@blogger.com