Interesting Newsweek article about lazy, good-for-nothing 20-somethings

[mtnbkr]

'taint what you think though.

The Olsen Twins (of Full House fame), have a clothing brand and try to manufacture as much as possible within the US. 

“I really believe in our being able to create here and utilize the skills that people have here,” says Ashley. “The skill set is here. Our main issue is that some of the machinery is gone, so some knitwear is produced in Italy. But whether it’s clothing or cars, I believe in manufacturing as close to home as possible.”

Worth a read: http://www.newsweek.com/2011/04/24/look-ma-we-re-fashion-moguls.html

Chris

[RevDisk]

I think quite a few currently younger ish folks are going to shy away from the outsourcing and off-shore manufacturing once they start aging into management roles.  They grew up seeing the havoc it caused, and probably won't be quite as keen on the concept. 

[RoadKingLarry]

I hope you're right RevDisk.
Some days I look at the younger kids I know and I fear for the future of not only our country but the whole world. Then I see some of the shining examples of hard working young folks and I regain some small degree of hope.

[RevDisk]

I hope you're right RevDisk.
Some days I look at the younger kids I know and I fear for the future of not only our country but the whole world. Then I see some of the shining examples of hard working young folks and I regain some small degree of hope.

Every generation has a large number of people that suck.  I've never seen a single age bracket without people that are lazy, stupid or just generally bad people.  Humanity manages to survive regardless.

Remember, half of humanity is below absolute mean of intelligence.

[Perd Hapley]

I hope you're right RevDisk.
Some days I look at the younger kids I know and I fear for the future of not only our country but the whole world. Then I see some of the shining examples of hard working young folks and I regain some small degree of hope.

I'm 34, and the evils wrought by those older than me makes me fear for the future. But then I see that some of those older folks are doing good things, and raising kids right, and I regain some small degree of hope.   

[drewtam]

My prediction is that in the next 15 - 20 years, US manufacturing will come back strong. So strong that it will surprise everyone, even me.

It is based on:
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2010/02/22/the-mystery-of-chinas-labor-shortage/
+
http://www.economywatch.com/in-the-news/overall-us-wages-stagnant.18-04.htm
+
http://www.oil-price.net/

Three things are continuing trends coming together to push manufacturing back here...
1. Cost of US labor is declining (stagnant wages diminished by increasing inflation.)
2. Cost of Chinese and Indian labor is increasing.
3. Cost of transoceanic shipping, and inter-modal handling is increasing.

These trends have been consistent for the past 10yrs. The only thing that would upset these trends would be a political upheaval in China that resets their economy.
This makes it advantageous to manufacturer as close to market as possible (China for China, US for US, EU for EU). Much of it will go to Mexico, but a lot will return to US.