- Aug 20, 2000
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Since talk about trade agreements that America is "losing" on still dominates the airwaves, I thought I'd bring this up as I've seen it floated around recently. Short of a Luddite-esque smashing of the machines - or maybe more of a USSR pointless job creation scheme - I'm not sure what the solution for the further automation of work is.
CATO @ Liberty - Have Trade Agreements Killed the Manufacturing Sector?
CATO @ Liberty - Have Trade Agreements Killed the Manufacturing Sector?
Yes, it’s true – fewer people work in manufacturing today than in the past. Peak U.S. manufacturing employment was 19.4 million workers in 1979, but has generally trended downward since then. Today only around 12 million people work for manufacturers, a decline of roughly one third over the past 35 years. Productivity has risen so much that many fewer workers now produce many more manufactured products.
A recent study by the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University found that trade has had some effect on manufacturing employment. Researchers estimate that approximately 13 percent of manufacturing job losses have been due to trade. But the dominant factor has been productivity growth, which accounted for 85 percent of the employment decline. (Robots and computers ate the jobs.) So imports bear a relatively small degree of responsibility for the reduction in manufacturing employment, but take a large share of the blame from politicians.
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(A more detailed review of the economic effects of trade agreements can be found in this study by the U.S. International Trade Commission.)
A recent study by the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University found that trade has had some effect on manufacturing employment. Researchers estimate that approximately 13 percent of manufacturing job losses have been due to trade. But the dominant factor has been productivity growth, which accounted for 85 percent of the employment decline. (Robots and computers ate the jobs.) So imports bear a relatively small degree of responsibility for the reduction in manufacturing employment, but take a large share of the blame from politicians.
...
(A more detailed review of the economic effects of trade agreements can be found in this study by the U.S. International Trade Commission.)