NEGATIVE: The best way to compare how things
are changing when it comes to manufacturing is to
compared the US’ share of global manufacturing
output to that of China’s over the course of the past
forty years. The IMF has done that work for us and
rounding to the nearest whole numbers, the differences
look like this:
The US China
1970 28% 4%
1975 22% 4%
1980 21% 4%
1985 24% 4%
1990 22% 4%
1995 22% 5%
2000 25% 8%
2005 22% 11%
2010 20% 19%
2015 16% 20%
In other words, US manufacturing production is now
right at parity with that of China and sometime in the
next year or two China’s will surpass that of the US. In
per capita terms this is not going to happen for
decades yet into the future of course, but in raw
production numbers the days of the US’ supremacy in
global manufacturing production are numbered. Once
China passes the US this next time it shall never again
look back… ever again.
