Yet America remains by far the No. 1 manufacturing country. It out-produces No. 2 China by more than 40 percent. U.S. manufacturers cranked out nearly $1.7 trillion in goods in 2009, according to the United Nations.
The story of American factories essentially boils down to this: They've managed to make more goods with fewer workers.
Then point to numbers showing they have left in mass. If such a large part of manufacturing has left then how does the US (according the 2009 report linked) still lead the world in manufacturing output? Are productivity increases enough to make up for manufacturing leaving at the levels many people like think? I certainly don't think so.
Pointing to manufacturing jobs going away is an invalid metric to start. Manufacturing jobs are gone and going, but it's not something that can be stopped. Some jobs were moved overseas, but many have simply been automated away. Over time even the ones overseas will be automated away.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/602691-u-s-manufacturing-lea...
From 2011:
http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/u-s-still-leads-world-in-...
Yet America remains by far the No. 1 manufacturing country. It out-produces No. 2 China by more than 40 percent. U.S. manufacturers cranked out nearly $1.7 trillion in goods in 2009, according to the United Nations. The story of American factories essentially boils down to this: They've managed to make more goods with fewer workers.