On Tuesday, April 1, 2008, the Institute for Supply Management reported that its manufacturing index registered 48.6 last month, albeit a slower contraction than February’s 48.3, which had been the weakest in five years. , which remains a sign that manufacturers are still struggling with fewer orders. and increases in the cost of raw materials. The next day, the Commerce Department reported that homebuilding fell for the 24th consecutive month, with Bernanke telling lawmakers that “gross domestic product seems likely not to grow much, if at all, during the first half.” of 2008 and could even contract slightly”. .” The week ended with Friday’s Labor Department report showing a net loss of 80,000 jobs last month, with 48,000 in manufacturing. One positive note on all the negative news was that the index that measures Exports of our manufactured goods rose to 56.5 last month, slightly up from 56.0 in February, but most analysts attribute that rise to the dollar’s decline.

The contraction in demand is found in orders that fall 1.1 percent for durable goods, such as motor vehicles, heavy machinery and iron and steel, and 1.5 percent for non-durable goods, products such as oil and products chemicals. Motor vehicle orders fell 2 percent, heavy machinery orders tumbled 12.3 percent and iron and steel orders fell 2.3 percent.

Facts like these are simply the facts. The questions stem from causes and solutions that are far from simple. To find the root causes of our current decline in manufacturing, it is necessary to look at what has caused the overall US economy to teeter on the brink of disaster, including our reliance on the Federal Reserve Bank, government regulations that U.S. manufacturing and ours are crippled by the government’s lopsided dealings with the World Trade Organization (WTO), which has flooded our markets with cheap, cheaply manufactured foreign goods, like the torrent of clothing, electronics, toys, pet food and other products that came out of China, and did justice to the trade hardship for American manufacturers.

By allowing a private bank, the Federal Reserve or “the Feds,” our central bank run by unelected officials who are not required to be open or accountable to anyone, to continue to increase the money supply, our government continues to make every dollar are worth less, so the cost of raw materials to manufacturers continues to rise and the purchasing power of the American consumer declines. Why would our Congress do something so illogical? The answer seems pretty obvious, our politicians seem intent on bankrupting America, and the Feds are happy to print money to help them rack up our nine trillion+ dollar debt, much of which is owed to them. owes them and their cronies. , the central banks of China and Saudi Arabia. So, of course, our government’s solution to “our” debt is always higher taxes and fewer tax breaks for businesses and individuals alike, which in turn reduces business profits and decreases consumers’ spendable cash. Americans.

The plethora of new government regulations that have been imposed over the past four decades have further crippled the ability of American manufacturing companies to be competitive in the global marketplace. A 2003 study by the National Association of Business Manufacturers (NAM) showed that the cost to US manufacturers in additional environmental, business taxes, healthcare, and OSHA compliance was $160 billion. In 2003, these costs were 22.4 percent higher for US manufacturers than for their foreign competitors, and with the cost of energy rising and the dollar falling, our manufacturers face an even greater disadvantage over their competitors. Yet it would seem that the importance of manufacturing as a major pillar of our economy and our true defense against recession is beyond the comprehension of our brilliant Washington legislators and the three comrades hailed by the mainstream media as our only presidential candidates.

Our government’s dealings with the WTO have flooded our markets with cheap, cheaply manufactured foreign goods, such as the torrent of clothing, electronics, toys, pet food, and other products coming out of China, and dictated import regulations. and exports that put our manufacturers at a clear disadvantage. The WTO, established in 1995, sets and enforces the rules for world trade. As long as we remain a member, the United States is subject to WTO disciplines over its own “market access” trade laws. The WTO has ruled that President Bush’s steel tariffs were illegal. This ruling was the sixth consecutive major loss in safeguard cases for the United States in the WTO. The trade panel also gave Europe the right to impose $4 billion worth of trade sanctions against the United States for giving tax breaks to US exporters through foreign sales corporations. In its first decision in an Internet-related dispute, the WTO ruled that US policy prohibiting online gambling violates international trade law. When an organization from abroad begins dictating domestic US policies and laws and crippling our manufacturers, our politicians should reconsider our participation in the WTO.

While a strong manufacturing sector in the US is critical to getting our country out of its economic woes, few of our politicians seem capable of understanding that sending our best blue-collar jobs abroad wreaks havoc on consumption here. What our politicians need to do is stop letting the feds print money that puts us even deeper in debt and ensure that the economic and political freedoms that allow true capitalism to work are in place for our country’s manufacturers and allow the best world’s workforce gets to work. The American consumer and worker must also take some responsibility and stop buying low, and perhaps deadly dollars as we have seen in last year’s recalls, foreign products and demand American products.