Saturday, February 28, 2009
Fact-checkin'
This morning, I heard Steve Gill's guest host say something to the effect that America no longer has a manufacturing economy. "We now have a service-based economy," he said (I'm paraphrasing).
Now, there are a lot of folks on the left (too many to name, in fact) who like to trot out the America-don't-make-nothing-anymore canard come election time. Unfortunately, there are a lot of folks on the right (see Buchanan, Pat and Steve Gill's guest host) who like to propagate the same canard.
As you can see from this chart, America's manufacturing output today is a little more than it was in 1947 ...
So, if we're still puttin' out as much stuff as we did 60 years ago, how come we don't have as many clock-punchers? Well, it has something to do with automation and computers and advanced mathematics and a feller named Dr. Edwards Deming. (Feel free to look all that up if'n you don't know what I'm talkin' 'bout.)
Now, there are a lot of folks on the left (too many to name, in fact) who like to trot out the America-don't-make-nothing-anymore canard come election time. Unfortunately, there are a lot of folks on the right (see Buchanan, Pat and Steve Gill's guest host) who like to propagate the same canard.
As you can see from this chart, America's manufacturing output today is a little more than it was in 1947 ...
So, if we're still puttin' out as much stuff as we did 60 years ago, how come we don't have as many clock-punchers? Well, it has something to do with automation and computers and advanced mathematics and a feller named Dr. Edwards Deming. (Feel free to look all that up if'n you don't know what I'm talkin' 'bout.)
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Saturday, February 28, 2009 
