How to Help American Manufacturing Recover
The National Association of Manufacturers recently released The Facts About Modern Manufacturing, which reminds us that one in six U.S. jobs is still tied to manufacturing.
The report is also very interesting because it is extremely clear about the difficulties which American manufacturers are currently facing. Unsurprisingly, most of those difficulties are created by the government:
* The U.S. Does Not Keep Pace with Falling Corporate Tax Rates: The United States now has the second highest corporate tax rate among our major trading partners, trailing only slightly behind Japan. U.S. corporate tax rates have been essentially unchanged for the past two decades, while all of our major competitors have been lowering theirs.
* High Health Care Costs Hamstring Competitiveness: The United States has the most expensive health care in the world relative to the size of its economy. Manufacturers want to continue offering flexible, generous health benefits without increasing the cost of doing business.
* Regulatory Compliance Costs are Large and Growing: Manufacturers spend an estimated $162 billion annually to comply with economic, environmental and workplace safety regulations as well as tax compliance – equivalent to a 12- percent value added tax. As an example, U.S. industry is faced with the highest pollution abatement costs compared to its major trading partners – even higher than the so-called “green economies” of Western Europe.
* Energy is Critical to the Industrial Sector: U.S. manufacturers consume roughly one-third of our nations available supplies. Most of the manufacturing sectors energy comes from fossil fuels, with natural gas representing the single largest energy source. The rise in fossil fuel prices since 2002 has raised production costs as well as concerns about the availability of secure, reliable and affordable energy supplies.
If the U.S. government wants to help the American people get out of this depression, it will stop deficit spending and will start following these straightforward steps to economic recovery:
1. Reduce or eliminate corporate income taxes.
2. Reduce the regulations which force health care to be expensive.
3. Reduce the regulatory burden on American companies.
4. Reduce the regulatory barriers to safe clean nuclear energy.
If the government does not do these things, we as Americans must ask why the government is prolonging this depression — and why we aren’t replacing them.
Brian Jones maintains the Quotes on Economics for Patriotic Quotes.
