The U.S. Will Surpass China as the No. 1 Country for Manufacturing by 2020
I haven't been myself but my wife is a process engineer and had to go to China to install and train people on a new machine so this is only second hand...<p>But one of the reasons China is so good at manufacturing is because everything is in one place (or at least clusters)... need 10,000 of an Integrated Circuit? The company that makes it is literally down the street. Need some raw materials? That's down the other street.<p>I can't think of a place in the US that is like that. If we need parts we have to wait for them to ship. (often from China)<p>It's not just a labor problem. It is my understanding to be competitive in manufacturing you need to be vertically integrated. And I think that is harder to do in the US.<p>Although I hope it is true. I live in the US but I don't believe in inherit United States exceptionalism but I do feel like shipping goods by container ship is bad for the environment and bad for consumers. I'd much rather see things made locally.