Tim Worstall

The Death of British Manufacturing

May have to be delayed for a bit:

The Office for National Statistics said manufacturing output, which
accounts for 15% of the economy, rose 0.2% in June from May, the fourth
monthly increase in a row. That last happened in mid-1999.
Manufacturing output is now back up to the level of six years ago,
having had a torrid time in between.

Manufacturing employment is down, yes, but that’s because the producers are becoming ever more efficient.

The recovery in manufacturing is reasonably widespread but particularly
strong in high value-added areas such as capital goods, aerospace and
pharmaceuticals, driven by demand from China and India in particular.
Companies that were in basic manufacturing and were often dubbed "metal
bashers" have simply disappeared as the competition from countries such
as China proved too tough.

Pretty much as the free marketeers’ theories would predict, isn’t it? Expensive, high productivity workers move up the value chain, low value added business goes to where workers are cheap and low productivity.

In

2 responses

  1. Martin Avatar
    Martin

    “Manufacturing employment is down, yes, but that’s because the producers are becoming ever more efficient.”
    Or else they’ve sacked the last six Brits and replaced them with three Poles.
    “Companies that were in basic manufacturing and were often dubbed “metal bashers” have simply disappeared as the competition from countries such as China proved too tough.
    Pretty much as the free marketeers’ theories would predict, isn’t it? Expensive, high productivity workers move up the value chain, low value added business goes to where workers are cheap and low productivity”
    And then they get to listen to the free-marketeers’ sermons on the evils of the welfare state!!!
    Isn’t being poor in Britain absolutely fucking wonderful?
    Tim adds: “Or else they’ve sacked the last six Brits and replaced them with three Poles.”
    That’s what more efficient means Bubba. The same work out of fewer resources.

    Reply
  2. Martin Avatar
    Martin

    “The same work out of fewer resources.”
    How very humane.
    That it might be totally illusory – goodness knows how much is spent on translating health & safety manuals into Czech these days: the savings on labour costs must be huge to offset such little incidentals – is another matter altogether.
    Or maybe they don’t translate them at all!

    Reply

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