China will remain a major low-cost center for manufacturing, but it is egregiously incorrect and irresponsible to say it represents the landscape -- the sweep, if you will -- of the manufacturing horizon, says economist Richard Felson. "Many low cost products will be made in China, and elsewhere, but better products can and will be made in the United States, if we plant the seeds for those industries today," Felson said.
This decade, which many economists call the U.S.'s 'decade of descent,' has been a lost decade concerning manufacturing. A failure to invest in the nation's manufacturing, technology, and basic research segments "has left the United States grossly underinvested, from physical plant and capital investment standpoints," Felson said. "The U.S. auto sector is probably the best known example of this. It is a manufacturing tragedy."
U.S. can seize the high end
The solution? Invest in industry, basic research, and technology to re-grab the high-end, and beyond, Felson says.
Think next-generation cars, he says. Think even more efficient jet engines and power systems. Think solar technology. Think wind power. Think smart electric grid. Think expanded universities to train the civil, mechanical, and electrical engineers needed to develop the innovative, energy-efficient, and smart systems of tomorrow.
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