Todd Lipscomb - Re-Made in the USA: How We Can Restore Jobs, Retool Manufacturing, and Compete with the World

Contents

Copyright 2011 by Todd Lipscomb. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Lipscomb, Todd, 1966

Re-made in the USA : how we can restore jobs, retool manufacturing, and compete with the world/Todd Lipscomb.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-0-470-92992-6 (cloth)

ISBN 978-1-118-02581-9 (ebk)

ISBN 978-1-118-02582-6 (ebk)

ISBN 978-1-118-02583-3 (ebk)

1. United StatesEconomic conditions21st century. 2. United StatesSocial policy21st century. 3. Labor marketUnited States. 4. Industrial policyUnited States. 5. International trade. I. Title.

HC106.84.L57 2011

330.973dc22

2010045232

For my dear wife Kaori, daughter Lyndsey, and son Lance. You taught me the real meaning of joy.

Introduction

Just a few short decades ago, our country led the world in manufacturing and politics. In those few intervening years, the tide has turned. Weve largely lost our manufacturing base and seen the twilight of our political leadership. At first glance, those concepts might seem far removed from the average Americans life. Its sad, of course, to see a strong and innovative country like the United States decline, but its very easy to get caught up in the day-to-day details of living our own lives and think of global issues as simply too big, too distant, to be our primary focus. In fact, there is no distinction. The future of the United States is our future. Manufacturing and political influence are inextricably intertwined with that future, and with the solid middle-class jobs manufacturing provides.

Today, we stand at a crossroads, called to choose between renewal and stagnation. Yes, todays circumstances are dire and discouraging. Were surrounded by economic decay and all that stems from it. But make no mistake: We have a choice. There is hope, if we believe. There is hope, if we are willing to act.

Living and working in Asia for more than seven years gave me some disturbing insights into Americas place in the global market. The imbalance in the present trade situation is ominous; every other nation Ive observed or studied puts its own interests first. Only in the United States are we handicapped by the rules of free trade. That we deem such a vague concept as more important than our own factories and people is a joke abroad. The lessons I learned in my years in Asia, and what they mean to the USA, haunt me to this day.

Those lessons inspired me to found MadeinUSAForever.com , which has grown into a significant resource for those interested in buying products made in the USA. But I wanted to do more with the information and motivation Id gathered overseas. I started the company in 2007 with a handful of suppliers for the purpose of creating options for those who want to buy American. The response has been beyond my wildest expectations. We now have thousands of products and tens of thousands of customers.

I am often asked why an expert on Asia would go to all this effort for the USA. Was there a single reason? Some sort of epiphany? A moment of realization? It was more like a dozen or more reasons and ideas coming together over time. One defining moment came when I held my newborn daughter in my arms for the first time and realized what this countrys decline would cost her and her generation if we didnt take action now.

My education and background are in finance, although I have always had a love of history. I have read hundreds of history and cultural books, and leapt at the chance to live in Asia, twice. Living in Asia broadened my knowledge base tremendously and gave me a great deal of real-world experience abroad. As my knowledge grew, it became disconcerting as I watched American coworkers come to Asia, spend a few nights at the Hilton, and return home as experts. It was important to me to get out among the people and familiarize myself with the history and culture of each locale and country. The lessons I learned related not just to what I was seeing, but to our own people and our great nation, as well.

Global relationships have changed dramatically over the past several decades. No nation or population is isolated today. And few individuals have enough information to truly understand the complex web of connections and influences. Those currently in power positions in business and government are often well served by keeping that information under wraps. Ten years ago, I still believed what I had learned in college about America and our place in the world: Free trade was innately fair, and if we had a problem here, it must be because wages were too high. That view proved to be far too simplistic. I have seen firsthand that we are the only major nation with its doors wide open to imports. Efforts to export to any other major nation are met with countless obstacles. Why? Because every other nation takes care of its own interests first.

Many in Washington and Asian capitals realize the United States is too open and that the trade imbalance has created a grotesque, unsustainable situation. Cheap goods are exported to this country in exchange for currency that is then loaned back to the United States, perpetuating the system. Asia gets the factories and the future. We get cheap goods today and a dire future. Yet nothing is done about it.

Sadly, many American businesspeople not only ignore the problems, but encourage them. Procurement officials for major chain stores send drawings, designs, and other information about items produced by their American suppliers abroad, in search of lower and lower prices. Previous generations of retailers, bankers, and corporate executives remembered that they were Americans first, and were conscious of, and took responsibility for, the impact of their choices on our national economy. Today, it seems that many remember that they are Americans only when they need a bailout. This ultrashort-term view values a penny in cost over keeping an American factory down the street in business. It also encourages lower-quality imports. Planned obsolescence keeps the cycle going, and encourages Americans to send more and more dollars overseas.