When I grew up I learned Economics from Uncle Bob.
Uncle Bob had the family farm, and worked as a foreman in the steel mill.
Uncle Bob taught me that wealth is created by either growing it , manufacturing it, or mining it. And since he had a working oil/gas well on the farm, he knew of what he spoke.
He grew food and raised livestock on the farm, he manufactured steel in the mill, and he sold the oil from the well and burned the gas for heat.
Then I got to college and saw that the folks with money weren’t working in mills or mines or farms. There was this burgeoning service economy.
Today, I just prepared PMPA’s Business Trends Report for October 2011. It aggregates sales and sentiment data from a little over 80 PMPA members in the U.S..
The Business Trends Indicator flattened a bit- a decline from a value of 114 last month to 111 this month.
Woe is me- NOT!
The fact of the matter is that the Business Trends Sales Data is up 15% for the year to date. Our average is 115. in 2010 it was 99.
Precision Manufacturing- according to PMPA’s respondents are up 15 percent over last year.
So how does that 15% stack up against the interest rates that those service economy bankers are paying you on your savings, checking and Certificates of deposit? How does 15% compare to how the rest of your investments- real estate, stocks, bonds- are doing?
According to our data, Uncle Bob seems to be right. There are many worse places to be in today’s economy than precision manufacturing.
Congratulations on your great career choice!
Photocredit: Riverrat
Thomas Sowell says:
Manufacturing is the backbone of the American economy. It has been that way for more than 236 years. Just look around, whenever there is a severe economic slump, the rally cry becomes “we need more manufacturing jobs” or “buy Made in the USA.” It is the industry that pays 20% better wages than most other industries. Around the year 2015 manufacturing will make a strong comeback that will help launch the country into a strong economic rebound by providing millions of jobs.
Lin Tooling says:
Different story in australia atm. Manufacturing is shrinking. Toolmaking is becoming a dieing art. So much of manufacturing has moved offshore.