Do we REALLY want manufacturing jobs?

They say the problem is we (America) don't make things anymore and that manufacturing jobs have gone overseas.

Does anyone WANT to work in a factory ???

Is the job that glamorous? How much do you think you're gonna get paid to do repetitive work that any monkey can be trained to do? Not much. At least not without a union.

youre on a roll today

Quote from BargainBob : They say the problem is we (America) don't make things anymore and that manufacturing jobs have gone overseas. Does anyone WANT to work in a factory ??? Is the job that glamorous? How much do you think you're gonna get paid to do repetitive work that any monkey can be trained to do? Not much. At least not without a union.

so what do you suggest those without college degrees (in productive fields, not 'basketweaving' or 'art history' majors) or some sort of other advanced / technical skills that they can use for a white-collar job? Should we just exterminate all those people as being unfit to live? should we just place them all on some welfare program so they can leech of those who do work for a living? Just what do you suggest?

I would be interested to see your suggestions related to what we do with the millions of blue-collar workers or those without higher education.

Moreover, we need these jobs because manufacturing is one of the few economic activities that actually add value / create new wealth...Services jobs just move money around from one person to another. Manufacturing takes $10 worth of raw materials, plastic, metal, energy etc. and creates a new item worth $100 on the market, creating $90 of new wealth in the process. Services provide no such wealth-creation on a macro-economic scale...they just transfer money from the service purchaser to the service provider. On a large scale, it concentrates money from the millions of service purchasers to the service providers, which might become large corporations, but they still, for the most part, do not ADD / CREATE NEW wealth like manufacturing activity does.

Quote from Radeck : Moreover, we need these jobs because manufacturing is one of the few economic activities that actually add value / create new wealth...Services jobs just move money around from one person to another. Manufacturing takes $10 worth of raw materials, plastic, metal, energy etc. and creates a new item worth $100 on the market, creating $90 of new wealth in the process. Services provide no such wealth-creation on a macro-economic scale...they just transfer money from the service purchaser to the service provider. On a large scale, it concentrates money from the millions of service purchasers to the service providers, which might become large corporations, but they still, for the most part, do not ADD / CREATE NEW wealth like manufacturing activity does.

Dur, whether a good or service, the provider makes their money by money changing hands. No one can make money out of thin air. Only the government can do that.

Quote from BargainBob : Dur, whether a good or service, the provider makes their money by money changing hands. No one can make money out of thin air. Only the government can do that.

incorrect. Creating WEALTH is not the same as PRINTING money. When the value of a share of company XYZ goes up from $10 to $20, $10 of WEALTH was created...and wealth is destroyed when the value of those shares plummets. Making a $100 iPod from $10 of materials creates $90 of wealth, and is why Apple shares are at $600 a piece. Wealth creation is a cornerstone of the free market economy, and how economies grow and populations prosper.

Quote from Radeck : incorrect. Creating WEALTH is not the same as PRINTING money. When the value of a share of company XYZ goes up from $10 to $20, $10 of WEALTH was created...and wealth is destroyed when the value of those shares plummets.

Surely you can't believe that stock price bubbles actually create wealth (even temporarily).

There's a reason they call it the "wealth effect;" it's not real wealth.

LMAO

Or, more accurately, CMAO (crying my ass off.)

Let's start simply - do you *really* think that manufacturing only creates "laborer" types of jobs? If so, who do you think designs those systems? Designs those products? Fixes the systems? Manages the systems?

I would not personally like to work in a manufacturing job, but I certainly wish our country was more self-sufficient. I'm all for international trade, but moving core sectors of the economy overseas makes our economy more precarious. We end up being dependent on others who may not share our interests.

Quote from 124nic8 : Surely you can't believe that stock price bubbles actually create wealth (even temporarily). There's a reason they call it the "wealth effect;" it's not real wealth.

This may be one of the few times I agree with you spot on, so I'll try not to make a habit out of it, but you're absolutely right. Sentiment trumps the underlying...of course until people get a whiff of the horeshit that IS the underlying and bail.

Yea. Who wants to take some rubber, chemicals or metal and make something useful that adds value to society like vehicles or medicine when we could throw our stock picks at Farmville and Instagram?

I LOVE manufacturing! I love American Manufacturing and the jobs they create. They can be great jobs, Not mind numbing if done right, These jobs can be creative, problem solving and a great way for someone without a great education to move up the ranks. In the right company? Even a janitor feels the pride behind their product. Get off your cushy Aeron Chair and walk a shop floor!

Lisa (a Lean Manufacturing Consultant)

Factory work can pay decently, if not enough to make one upper middle class.

Quote from Radeck : so what do you suggest those without college degrees (in productive fields, not 'basketweaving' or 'art history' majors) or some sort of other advanced / technical skills that they can use for a white-collar job? Should we just exterminate all those people as being unfit to live? should we just place them all on some welfare program so they can leech of those who do work for a living? Just what do you suggest? I would be interested to see your suggestions related to what we do with the millions of blue-collar workers or those without higher education. Moreover, we need these jobs because manufacturing is one of the few economic activities that actually add value / create new wealth...Services jobs just move money around from one person to another. Manufacturing takes $10 worth of raw materials, plastic, metal, energy etc. and creates a new item worth $100 on the market, creating $90 of new wealth in the process. Services provide no such wealth-creation on a macro-economic scale...they just transfer money from the service purchaser to the service provider. On a large scale, it concentrates money from the millions of service purchasers to the service providers, which might become large corporations, but they still, for the most part, do not ADD / CREATE NEW wealth like manufacturing activity does.

Well said.

Quote from riptide_slick : LMAO Or, more accurately, CMAO (crying my ass off.) Let's start simply - do you *really* think that manufacturing only creates "laborer" types of jobs? If so, who do you think designs those systems? Designs those products? Fixes the systems? Manages the systems?

outsourcing.

The answer to the OPs question is an unqualified yes.

Wealth Creation
National Security
Support for Traditional Family

Many other reasons...