Economists offer more pessimistic view on manufacturing in upcoming report

The Washington Post reports that things in manufacturing are worse than is reported:

“The decline in U.S. manufacturing employment is explained by rapid growth in manufacturing productivity over the past 50 years,” said Glenn Hubbard, former chairman of the U.S. Council of Economic Advisers under President George W. Bush.

But a handful of economists have begun to challenge that explanation, chipping away at the long-offered assurances that the state of U.S. manufacturing is not as bad as the jobs numbers make it look.

Instead, they say, it’s significantly worse.

The job losses, in their view, were caused more by the declining global competitiveness of U.S. manufacturers than more efficient factories. The apparent productivity gains reflected in the official U.S. statistics have been miscalculated and misrepresented, they say, a view that has been at least partially validated by new research.

An article well worth your time.