Wednesday, December 8, 2010

The following are 19 facts about the deindustrialization of America that will blow your mind....

#1 The United States has lost approximately 42,400 factories since 2001. About 75 percent of those factories employed over 500 people when they were still in operation.

#2 Dell Inc., one of America's largest manufacturers of computers, has announced plans to dramatically expand its operations in China with an investment of over $100 billion over the next decade.

#3 Dell has announced that it will be closing its last large U.S. manufacturing facility in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in November. Approximately 900 jobs will be lost.

#4 In 2008, 1.2 billion cell phones were sold worldwide. So how many of them were manufactured inside the United States? Zero.

#5 According to a new study conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, if the U.S. trade deficit with China continues to increase at its current rate, the U.S. economy will lose over half a million jobs this year alone.

#6 As of the end of July, the U.S. trade deficit with China had risen 18 percent compared to the same time period a year ago.

#7 The United States has lost a total of about 5.5 million manufacturing jobs since October 2000.

#8 According to Tax Notes, between 1999 and 2008 employment at the foreign affiliates of U.S. parent companies increased an astounding 30 percent to 10.1 million. During that exact same time period, U.S. employment at American multinational corporations declined 8 percent to 21.1 million.

#9 In 1959, manufacturing represented 28 percent of U.S. economic output. In 2008, it represented 11.5 percent.

#10 Ford Motor Company recently announced the closure of a factory that produces the Ford Ranger in St. Paul, Minnesota. Approximately 750 good paying middle class jobs are going to be lost because making Ford Rangers in Minnesota does not fit in with Ford's new "global" manufacturing strategy.

#11 As of the end of 2009, less than 12 million Americans worked in manufacturing. The last time less than 12 million Americans were employed in manufacturing was in 1941.

#12 In the United States today, consumption accounts for 70 percent of GDP. Of this 70 percent, over half is spent on services.

#13 The United States has lost a whopping 32 percent of its manufacturing jobs since the year 2000.

#14 In 2001, the United States ranked fourth in the world in per capita broadband Internet use. Today it ranks 15th.

#15 Manufacturing employment in the U.S. computer industry is actually lower in 2010 than it was in 1975.

#16 Printed circuit boards are used in tens of thousands of different products. Asia now produces 84 percent of them worldwide.

#17 The United States spends approximately $3.90 on Chinese goods for every $1 that the Chinese spend on goods from the United States.

#18 One prominent economist is projecting that the Chinese economy will be three times larger than the U.S. economy by the year 2040.

#19 The U.S. Census Bureau says that 43.6 million Americans are now living in poverty and according to them that is the highest number of poor Americans in the 51 years that records have been kept.

So how many tens of thousands more factories do we need to lose before we do something about it?

How many millions more Americans are going to become unemployed before we all admit that we have a very, very serious problem on our hands?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

It would make a big difference if Americans purchased goods "Made in the USA" !

unions are destroying America said...

Most of this is the direct result of Bill Clinton's NAFTA --which opened up free trade with China and Mexico, and the most ridiculous fact is that the unions fought hard for NAFTA simply because of their allegiance to the Democratic Party. The bottom line was that if Clinton wanted it, the unions supported it similar to what we are seeing now with unions and Obama. Every AFL-CIO union had signs and banners everywhere that said "NAFTA--YES!"

Now we are paying for what these radical zealots fought for through record unemployment.

Anonymous said...

As a retailer I sell dance shoes for the local dance classes in the area. When we started out 15 years ago, the shoes were made here in the United States, New Hampshire. Then Capezio Dance Makers bought out the factory and moved the production to guess where? Of course, China. The price went down per item and customers were happy. Now however,
the factories no longer meet deadlines or pay attention to the dance shopping season here in the U.S.. It makes for bad relations for me with my customer and when I explain they haven't arrived from China, the customer is just angry. Many tell me they would pay a higher price, just get the shoe! Why can't we make dance shoes here in America? We certainly have plenty of people out of work. Could we produce something here, anything and put Americans back to work?

I suppose the cost of doing business, taxes, union dues, red tape, nobody wants to be bothered here anymore.

Anonymous said...

You might succeed in making the dance shoes in a business friendly "right to work" state, but you will never succeed in making them here because of the unions and the anti-business climate here in Connecticut.

As the owner of a business, you are considered the devil himself by most Democrats!

Disgusted with Murphy and Larson said...

I'm not worried. Chris Murphy and John Larson said that they would be bringing back manufacturing jobs back to Connecticut. Call their offices and ask them how their campaign promise is working out. So sad that people actually believed their lies.

Anonymous said...

Murphy and Larson will just tell you it is George Bush's fault that they can't deliver even one job in a state that is bleeding jobs in record numbers.

Just wait until the Democrats in the legislature make us the first state to require every single employer to give their employees paid sick leave. That will really make employers flock to Connecticut, won't it.

DEMOCRAT=JOB DESTROYER!

Anonymous said...

Isn't it next week that Larson and Murphy both have to vacate their plush offices to make room for the members of the Republican majority who will be taking over their plush office suites?

It's the basement with no windows for both of these socilists!

Anonymous said...

I like the fact that Larson will soon need permission from a Republican before he can shoot off his fat mouth. Hopefully every time he tries to speak, he will be told to shut up and sit in the back seat, because Republicans are now in the driver's seat and he is now a nobody.

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