The Death of U.S. Manufacturing Greatly Exaggerated

In his NY Times op-ed piece The Cognitive Age David Brooks points out that if measured by output U.S. manufacturing is still world class.  Key quote:

"Instead of fleeing to Asia, U.S. manufacturing output is up over recent decades. As Thomas Duesterberg of Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI, a research firm, has pointed out, the U.S.’s share of global manufacturing output has actually increased slightly since 1980."

What has happened, of course, is that U.S. manufacturing employment has fallen substantially over the last 2 decades.  The chief driver of this employment change is not outsourcing but technology.  From the article:

"The chief force reshaping manufacturing is technological change (hastened by competition with other companies in Canada, Germany or down the street). Thanks to innovation, manufacturing productivity has doubled over two decades. Employers now require fewer but more highly skilled workers. Technological change affects China just as it does the America. William Overholt of the RAND Corporation has noted that between 1994 and 2004 the Chinese shed 25 million manufacturing jobs, 10 times more than the U.S."