US manufacturing is alive and well - William Overholt

William Overholt by Fantake via Flickr

Has US manufacturing moved to China, asks Bloomberg a group of experts. No, manufacturing is alive and kicking in the US, says also William Overholt. Manufacturers are doing more with less people, but...

Still, the idea that job losses mean U.S. manufacturing has hollowed out is a “myth,” said William Overholt, a senior research fellow at Harvard University’sJohn F. Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, Massachusetts. All industrialized and industrializing countries go through the same process as their manufacturing becomes more sophisticated and productivity increases.

The U.S. lost 2.6 million factory jobs from 1994 to 2004, while China lost 25 million, according to a study Overholt did for the Santa Monica, California-based Rand Corp.

“The familiar views of the fate of U.S. manufacturing are basically a combination of paranoia and propaganda,” Overholt said. “The idea that America’s manufacturing economy is dying is the silliest nonsense.”

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William Overholt is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you need his insights at your conference, do get in touch.

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