For the United States, maintaining a manufacturing base is vital to retain its world leadership in innovation. The reasoning behind this lies in advanced manufacturing that provides an important institutional foundation for learning and developing capabilities and process skills that are growingly interweaved with central research and development in certain industries that are significant to the country’s economic future.
In the U.S. alone, manufacturing has a rich history. The industrial revolution of the 19th century transformed the U.S. from being a nation that generated most of its money from farming to a large country that yielded the majority of its economic exports in the shape of manufactured goods. A huge chunk of America’s prosperity was experienced after World War II, which can be linked to the increased activities in the manufacturing sector.
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The manufacturing industry is a field that produces jobs, from which a remarkable portion of a country’s wealth is gained. In the occurrence of a trade surplus, a country exports more than it imports, earning more money than it spends, resulting in greater fortune.
In addition to creating jobs, the industry makes for a great home for the development of new technologies. As stated by the Business Council of New York State, U.S. manufacturers are responsible for close to two-thirds of private-sector research and development, which totaled more than $120 million in 2002. The Economic Policy Institute reported that manufacturing industries fostered $1.6 trillion in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2006, having accounted for more than 12 percent of the total.
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