December 30, 2008
Manufacturing and the Economy
Irvine, CA- -- Since 2002 this web site has been trying to tell people that our economy was in trouble.

There are two main ways to generate wealth:

Land - By growing food, cotton, wood, and other natural products we can generate wealth. We can also sell minerals and other natural resources like water/wind power. When we produce our own energy we are using land to produce wealth.

Manufacturing - By taking raw materials, adding labor, and producing a product for sale. With manufacturing you get a multiplier of at least five times the production cost. In other words you produce something for five dollars and the final retail price is twenty-five dollars. The price grows as the product moves through the economy.
First the manufacturer gets paid by the wholesaler or distributor and then the distributor sells into the retail market. Finally the retailer sells to the consumer. A strong economy has a large manufacturing component that creates a support infrastructure such as raw material suppliers, service industries, utilities and other support

Since the 90's we have been giving our manufacturing over to foreign countries. At the same time we have given over our energy production to them also. The combination of these two factors has lead to a serious weakening of our economy. Unless we get our manufacturing back and produce our own energy we will become dependent upon other countries. They will increase prices and use the money to buy more of our industries and land.

When I talk about this many people say that we cannot compete with foreign manufacturers. This is true only if we do not believe in our creative skills and resourcefulness. I believe that by the use of robots and factory automation we can have clean, efficient, productive manufacturing facilities that will create good jobs and build our infrastructure.

As an electrical engineer and businessman with over 35 years of experience. I can tell you that we have the most creative people in the world right here in the United States of America. We just need to set some goals, get motivated, and we can achieve anything.

We encourage you to seek out "Made in USA" products and buy them. If you cannot find products made in the USA send me an email and I will help you find them.

Also support Pickens Plan with your representatives and friends.

.November 12, 2008
US Ecomomy Falters Due to Three Factors
Shabnam V.
The current economic problems in the United States stem largely from three things: the excessive spending habits of Americans, the government  keeping interest rates too low for too long, and our excessive trade imbalance. 

Over the last three years Americans have been saving -2%. This means they have been borrowing to maintain their standard of living.

The housing market was inflated by the low interest rates and rampant greed by mortgage companies and the banking system
.

The government and the people have allowed foreign countries to dump products into the American marketplace and destroy the U.S. manufacturing base. This caused loss of jobs for the middle class Americans and has weakened the economy.

How can this economic collapse be a good thing? The economic collapse is a good thing because it teaches the people and government officials that they cannot ignore the basic principles of a good economy. A good economy is based upon a strong manufacturing sector and conservatism in spending by the populace and the government. Consumers need to save from 5% to 15% of their income to protect themselves against fluctuations in the economy and to provide capital for economic growth.

What lesion might we learn form the collapse? Excessive debt is bad for the economy. Buying products from other countries, even if they are lower cost, does not build our economy unless there is an equal offsetting sale of American manufactured goods to foreign countries.

We should look to the words of Benjamin Franklin “I will not look for get rich schemes to make money”. He also encouraged frugality by elected representatives in handling the finances of the US government.

One young person said that they will do things different than their parents. They are planning on paying cash for the things they purchase and limit their borrowing as much as possible. They will also save more money and purchase products made in the United States.

September 4, 2008
Manufacturing employment fell by 35,000 in July
Northeast Midwest Institute - -- Manufacturing employment fell by 35,000 in July bringing losses over the past 12 months to 383,000. Job losses were widespread with notable declines in transportation equipment (-8,000), wood products (-4,000), and textile mills (-3,000). Machinery added 6,000 jobs over the month.
Full Story

June 18, 2008
Almost 65,000 U.S. Manufacturing Jobs Anticipated in Second Half of 2008, an Industrial Info News Alert
SUGAR LAND, TX, Jun 18 (MARKET WIRE) -- However the economic situation of the average American is getting desperate, and the continued loss of jobs, even with
the rate declining, is not helping matters.
Full Story

The U.S. Is Still Losing the Competitive Advantage
New AeA Report Calls for Immediate Action to Maintain
American Competitiveness

Washington, DC (March 28, 2007) — Today AeA released its latest report, We Are Still Losing the Competitive Advantage: Now Is the Time To Act. The report serves as the natural sequel to the AeA report of two years ago: Losing the Competitive Advantage? That report focused on how the United States is at risk of squandering its preeminence in science, technology, and innovation as countries across the globe became more competitive and as America neglected the factors that gave it this lead. This new and expanded edition of that report reinforces the conclusion that America is losing its competitive advantage and the time to confront those issues is now.
www.aeanet.org
 

January 23, 2007
U.S. Manufacturing Hiring Seen Expanding In February (Yes, Expanding)
By Tom Granahan, Editor-In-Chief, Manufacturing.net
Manufacturing.Net
The following is not a typo:
There will be more hiring in manufacturing and less in the services sector in February 2007 versus a year ago, according to the latest numbers from the Leading Indicator of National Employment report.
However, despite an overall drop in job vacancies, firms continue to face difficulty in finding highly qualified applicants to fill key positions.
http://www.manufacturing.net/article/CA6409279.html
 

November28, 2006
Surprise Fall in US Goods Orders
 A slump in demand for civilian aircraft has helped trigger the sharpest fall in orders for big-ticket products in the US for more than six years.
"There are some signs emerging that the manufacturing sector is softening," said David Sloan, senior economist at 4Cast.
BBC
 

September 1, 2006
The Gathering Storm

The United States takes deserved pride in the vitality of its economy, which forms the foundation of our high quality of life, our national security, and our hope that our children and grandchildren will inherit ever-greater opportunities. That vitality is derived in large part from the productivity of well-trained people and the steady stream of scientific and technical innovations they produce. Without high-quality, knowledge-intensive jobs and the innovative enterprises that lead to discovery and new technology, our economy
will suffer and our people will face a lower standard of living.

Executive Summary pdf format

July 25, 2006
Senator Lugar: Bush Administration Unprepared For Venezuela Oil Cutoff
By NATALIE OBIKO PEARSON AP Business Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press


CARACAS, Venezuela — A U.S. senator says that the Bush administration has not prepared adequately for a possible cutoff of oil sales from Venezuela that would cause a spike in crude oil prices and hurt the U.S. economy.

In a letter sent last week to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Republican Sen. Richard Lugar said the South American country's "direct supply lines and refining capacity in the United States give Venezuela undue ability to impact U.S. security and our economy."

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4068491.html

July 25, 2006
Domestic Manufacturers Force The National Association of Manufacturers' Big Members To Take A Stand On China; Multinationals Lose Vote And Are Accused Of Defending Chinese 'Protectionism'
The simmering conflict within the National Association of Manufacturers between smaller domestic manufacturers and large multinational companies with production throughout the world and especially in China came to a head during a two-hour meeting of representatives from the two groups on June 27. On that day, NAM's International Economic Policy Committee (IEPC) held a vote on whether NAM should endorse legislation that would allow U.S. companies to petition the U.S. government for relief under trade laws due to foreign governments subsidizing their currencies. NAM president Gov. John Engler tried to avert a showdown by offering a compromise, but the domestic manufacturers were well organized and ready to vote. Ironically, it was the multinationals who, perhaps overestimating their own strength, called for a vote and thereby ended the possibility of a compromise, according to those in attendance.
Manufacturers with most of their production in the United States strongly support the measure (HR 1498) sponsored by Reps. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) and Tim Ryan (D-Ohio). Those with production in China -- mostly the big multinationals -- were strongly opposed. The domestic manufacturers won, 75 to 46 with five abstentions. (See accompanying story for final tally of votes for and against.) The majority of companies voting against the measure were large multinational firms.
The vote "is a good wakeup call that this is still a problem and a wakeup call for the administration and China that this is a still a problem that needs to be addressed," said Pat Mears, NAM's director of international commercial affairs..

http://www.manufacturingnews.com

The Death of American Manufacturing
By Robert Morley February 22, 2006
Globalization and outsourcing are hammering our icons of industry. For over a half century, American manufacturing has dominated the globe. It turned the tide in World War ii and hastened the defeat of Nazi Germany; it subsequently helped rebuild Europe and Japan; it enabled the United States to outlast the Soviet empire in the Cold War. At the same time, it met all the material needs of the American people.
http://www.thetrumpet.com

Innovation Economy Strong, But State Lags in High Tech Job Creation, MTC Index Finds - December 13, 2005
Massachusetts' innovation indicators may be strong, but the conversion of innovation into new high tech jobs is lagging and the state’s median household income continues to dip, according to the latest Index of the Massachusetts Innovation Economy.
http://www.ssti.org/Digest/2004/121304.htm#MTC

Wall Street Journal article reports that companies create their own shortages - November 16, 2005
"Corporations often create the very shortages they decry by insisting on applicants who meet every item on a detailed list of qualifications." Employers are being inundated with resumes, but instead of putting greater numbers of unemployed U.S. engineers back to work, as one might expect, the overwhelming response has caused employers to narrow their search criteria, effectively weeding out engineers who don't possess very specific skills.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05320/607304.stm

The US is Losing Its Technology Edge - July 8, 2005
More than half a century of U.S. dominance in science and engineering maybe slipping as America's share of graduates in these fields falls relative to Europe and developing nations such as China and India, a study released on Friday says. The study, written by Richard Freeman at the National Bureau of Economic Research in Washington, warned that changes in the global science and engineering job market may require a long period of adjustment for U.S. workers. Moves by international companies to move jobs in information technology, high-tech manufacturing and research and development to low-income developing countries were just "harbingers" of that longer-term adjustment, Freeman said. Urgent action was needed to ensure that slippage in science and engineering education and research, a bulwark of the U.S. productivity boom and resurgence during the 1990s, did not undermine
America's global economic leadership, he added. The United States has had a substantial lead in science and technology since World War II. With just 5 percent of the world's population, it employs almost a third of science and engineering researchers, accounts for 40 percent of research and development spending and publishes 35 percent of science and engineering research papers. Many of the world's top high-tech firms are American, and government spending on defense-related technology ensures the U.S. military's technological dominance on battlefields. But the roots of this lead may be eroding, Freeman said. Numbers of science and engineering graduates from European and Asian universities are soaring while new degrees in the United States have stagnated--cutting its overall share. In 2000, the paper said, 17 percent of university bachelor degrees in the U.S. were in science and engineering compared with a world average of 27 percent and 52 percent in China. The picture among doctorates--key to advanced scientific research--was more striking. In 2001, universities in the European Union granted 40 percent more science and engineering doctorates than the United States, with that figure expected to reach nearly 100 percent by about 2010, the study showed. The study said deteriorating opportunities and comparative wages for young science and engineering graduates has discouraged U.S. students from entering these fields, but not those born in other countries. These trends are challenging the so-called North-South global economic divide, the paper said, by undermining a perceived rich-country advantage in high technology. "Research and technological activity and production are moving where the people are, even when they are located in the low-wage South," Freeman wrote, citing a study saying some 10-15 percent of all U.S. jobs were "off-shorable". Story Copyright © 2005 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Copyright ©1995-2005 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.

April 12, 2005 Tech Job Cuts Hit Five Quarter High
Losses in the tech sector account for more than one fifth of all jobs lost in 1Q '05.
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Job cuts in the tech sector hit their highest quarterly total since 2003, global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said Monday. Heavy job cutting in the telecommunications and computer sectors pushed first-quarter job cuts to 59,537, up 3.2 percent from the previous quarter and more than double the number of cuts in the year-ago period, the Challenger report said.
"The biggest factor pushing tech job cuts to a five-quarter high was a surge in corporate combinations in the telecom sector, which resulted in over 3,000 job cuts in February," said John Challenger, the company's chief executive.
"In fact, 92 percent of the first-quarter telecom job cuts resulted from mergers," he added.
Telecommunication firms led all tech-sector job losses in the period with 35,079 job cuts, more than double the pace of job cutting in the computer industry.
Losses in the tech sector account for 20.7 percent of all job cuts in the first quarter, the report said, adding that tech-sector job cuts could rise in the near term.

March 1, 2005 New Report: One million California manufacturing jobs "at risk"
The Bay Area Economic Forum released a report this morning explaining manufacturers' vulnerability and estimating the number of "at risk" manufacturing jobs in our state. The report also makes recommendations to both management and government as to how the "at risk" jobs might be saved.
Download report | Press release

March 1, 2005 Without Timely Action, the U.S. Faces a Decline in Competitiveness as Other Countries Catch Up
Decline can be avoided if the United States stops ignoring the factors that sparked the technological breakthroughs of the last 60 years

The AeA’s new report, Losing the Competitive Advantage?: The Challenge for Science and Technology in the United States, finds that America can no longer remain idle if we hope to continue our lead in science and technology. We are neglecting the factors that sparked the U.S. technology
revolution. Ultimately, this threatens U.S. economic vitality and our competitiveness in the global marketplace.
A copy of the report can be found at http://www.aeanet.org/competitiveness

January 9, 2005 Offshore Outsourcing: How Far Does It Go?
After some members of ASME raised concerns regarding the recent media coverage of the offshore outsourcing of professional services, the Society's Board on Government Relations conducted a confidential, random survey of 5,000 non-academic U.S.-based members to gauge the impact on ASME's U.S. constituency. There were 260 responses—a response rate of 5.2 percent, about the average for a survey.
by Patti Curtis, ASME Government Relations
 

December 17, 2004 U.S. Slips in Attracting the World's Best Students American universities, which for half a century have attracted the world's best and brightest students with little effort, are suddenly facing intense competition as higher education undergoes rapid globalization.
The European Union, moving methodically to compete with American universities, is streamlining the continent's higher education system and offering American-style degree programs taught in English. Britain, Australia and New Zealand are aggressively recruiting foreign students, as are Asian centers like Taiwan and Hong Kong. And China, which has declared that transforming 100 universities into world-class research institutions is a national priority, is persuading top Chinese scholars to return home from American universities.
New York Times

December 15, 2004 A Plea for Support of Innovation America risks losing its leadership of the global economy if government and industry fail to make changes that encourage innovation, a panel of leading executives and university presidents say in a study to be released today.
A host of problems is eating away at the nation's economic strength even as countries such as China and India work to lift their international status, according to the Council on Competitiveness, a bipartisan group of some 400 top executives and leaders of universities. Washington Post

 

December 14, 2004    U.S. trade deficit swells to record $55.5 billion
The USA's trade deficit swelled to an all-time high $55.5 billion in October as imports surged to the highest levels on record. Sky-high crude-oil prices also contributed to the yawning trade gap. The latest snapshot of trade, reported by the Commerce Department on Tuesday, showed the country's trade imbalance widening a sizable 8.9% in October from the previous month — despite the fact that U.S. exports also registered their best month on record. The growth in imports, however, dwarfed the pace of exports in October, producing another bloated trade gap. The deficit was much bigger than the $52.4 billion imbalance economists were forecasting.
AP in the USA Today http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/trade/2004-12-14-deficit-oct_x.htm

December 7, 2004 It's Slipping Again

According to a new study from staffing firm Hudson Global Resources, confidence among IT workers in the U.S. took a step backward in November. About 27% of employees polled said they expected layoffs at their companies over the next few months. That percentage was just under 19% in October and reached its lowest level since June.

With a Forrester analyst recently telling SearchCIO.com that CIOs will be challenged next year to attract IT talent when the field seems to be less desirable as a career choice, this Hudson study looks all the more worrisome. Let's face it; IT has taken some dings over the last few years as a career path. While many IT workers seem to be bailing out of the business, some CIOs insist that IT is still a very attractive field with lots of promise for the right people. -Ed Perry
[SearchCIO.com]

December 6, 2004 Outsourcing study a welcome surprise in budget bill

So far, the government has simply lacked the data to determine offshore outsourcing's impact on the U.S. work force, said Republican Rep. Frank Wolf of Virginia. Wolf initiated the measure to grant $2 million to the independent, nonpartisan National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) for the study. Lou Dobbs CNN.com

December 4, 2004 A recent survey of programmers resulted in some disappointing statistics. When asked what they would do if their job was outsourced the participants responded:

A: Circulate my resume, call everyone I know and hope to find a similar job. 22%
B: Hit the books and beef up my credentials. 18%
C: Become an independent consultant. 16%
D: Change career altogether.
E: Retire early.6%
F: Unknown 15%
Source SearchVB.com

September 8, 2004 Because of recent inquiries we have developed a Standardized Proclamation that can be used by local and state governments to promote the Buy USA First Initiative. To download the proclamation please click here.

June 22, 2004  Thanks to our supporters Buy USA First.org is in transition. We are reworking the website to expand the services and products available.

May 31, 2004 What is happening to the U.S. job market?
A series of articles that attempt to chronicle the economic impact of offshore outsourcing and other hiring trends on the U.S. economy and its workers. When you read this remember that McKenzie does consulting for overseas clients.
 Stanford Graduate School of Business

May 18, 2004 Attendees get down to business at Outsourcing Summit [SearchCIO.com]
Gartner says outsourcing has hit the mainstream for companies of all sizes, but evidently the controversial aspects are still alive and well. Some companies are eager to learn more but aren't all that enthused about discussing their plans.
MORE INFO:
See why one company discovered outsourcing was the wrong move

May 15, 2004 CARY, N.C. - A five-by-nine foot box that resembles a small recording studio may symbolize the future of the troubled American textile industry. The machine offers hope for an industry that has been devastated by free trade and lower overseas labor costs. Yahoo News

May 13, 2004 Shifting blame for manufacturing job loss
The effect of rising trade deficit shouldn't be ignored.
Many economic observers have recently exonerated international trade flows for the hemorrhaging job losses in the manufacturing sector of the United States, generally claiming that either changing demand patterns or rapid productivity growth are the cause of manufacturing's decline. But the evidence shows that trade imbalances in manufacturing have accounted for 59% of the decline in manufacturing employment since 1998.  By Josh Bivens, Economic Policy Institute

May 7, 2004  Non-farm payroll employment increased by 288,000 in April, and the unemployment rate was about unchanged at 5.6 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The April increase in payroll employment follows a gain of 337,000 in March, and job growth again was widespread. In April, employment rose substantially in several service-providing industries, construction continued to add jobs, and there was a noteworthy job gain in durable goods manufacturing.
Both the unemployment rate, 5.6 percent, and the number of unemployed  persons, 8.2 million, were essentially unchanged in April. The unemployment rate has been either 5.6 or 5.7 percent since last December.
Employment Situation Report from  the Department of Labor

May 5, 2004  Detroit automakers — facing more competition from Asia and Europe, rising health care and pension expenses and shrinking U.S. market share — have eliminated nearly 20,000 contract workers in recent years to cut costs and boost profits.

The companies are drastically reducing temporary white-collar staffs by shifting duties to full-time employees, declining to renew contracts with agencies that supply contract employees, eliminating the work or sending it to foreign countries where labor rates are cheaper.

Steady productivity gains also are allowing General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG’s Chrysler Group to operate with fewer contract workers — a major blow to a sector of the Michigan economy and work force that enjoyed healthy growth in the 1990s.

GM cut its North American contract work force from 16,000 in 2000 to 7,526 in 2003. Chrysler has trimmed 1,200 contract workers over the past several years. At Ford Motor Co., 1,700 contract workers were terminated in 2003. The Detroit News

May 3, 2004    
U.S. Is Losing Its Dominance in the Sciences
By WILLIAM J. BROAD   (NYT)   News for SCIENCE  

April 24, 2004 "The good news is that the economy has finally begun to generate more jobs," said Stephen Herzenberg, an economist and executive director of the Keystone Research Center. "Now the question becomes how good are those jobs? On that score, the loss of manufacturing jobs does not bode well." KFVE Honolulu, HI

April 22, 2004  How Michigan can create manufacturing jobs
The keys: tax system reform and continued support of free trade. By Charles Ballard of the The Detroit News

April 22, 2004 MARKUP OF H.R. 3866, H.R. 2771, AND H.RES. 516 Congressman John D. Dingell proposes "We need to tackle the problem of "outsourcing"; we need to expand programs in the Department of Commerce such as the Manufacturing Extension Partnership and the Advanced Technology Program; and we need to address the significant negative impact that increasing healthcare costs have on manufacturing. I hope the Committee will take an active interest in these matters. Otherwise, the words contained in this resolution would be a meaningless expression of support"
John D. Dingell

April 16, 2004 Offshore outsourcing isn't killing the U.S. economy, it's helping. That's the conclusion in a nutshell of a new study. But given the fact that this is one of the most contentious issues of our time, the report has its critics. Report: Offshore outsourcing helps U.S. job market [SearchCIO.com]
 

April 15, 2004 Round Rock, Texas-based Dell employs more people abroad than it does in the U.S., it disclosed in a regulatory filing this week. Yahoo News

April 5, 2004  Ron Hira, chair of the career and workforce policy committee for IEEE-USA, the Washington policy and lobbying unit of New York-based Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., fields questions about outsourcing and its effect on tech companies and workers in the United States. The Washington Post

April 4, 2004 Scientist predicts U.S. will have more serious economic problems. See Information>Editorial

April 3, 2004 Buy USA First.org begins project system to gain insight into the manufacturing and service job problem. For details see Organizational>Projects

April 1, 2004 - No Joke - Economist calls unemployment rate 'misleading'. Topeka Business Journal

March 20, 2004 - Manufacturing companies make the future for the United States National Association of Manufacturers

How to use this site:

1. Read our Mission Statement below.
2. Read the negative news.
3. Read the positive news.
4. Read the Editorials.
5. Follow the links in the Information Sources section.
6. Write to your congress person and tell them what you think.
7. Buy products and services produced in the U.S.A.
8. Send us any new information you find and we will post it.
9. Help support this effort by making a donation in the Support US section. If we had just a little funding we could do a lot more!

Mission Statement

Buy USA First is dedicated to helping United States based manufacturing and service industries through research, education, advocacy, and service. We support the following concepts:

We encourage USA residents and companies to first consider purchasing USA  manufactured goods or services before considering goods or services produced outside the United States of America.

We fully support legal immigration to the USA, participation of foreign companies in the U.S. economy, and profitable fair trade with other countries.

We encourage the expansion of United States based manufacturing and service industries.

Purchasing USA produced goods and services promotes the growth of jobs in the United States. It helps to keep the economic base of the United States of America strong and ready to benefit future generations.

Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
--Benjamin Franklin

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United Intelligence Corporation
Last Updated 11/12/2008


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