Some Good News on Manufacturing ...

... and some not so good news.

Let's deal first with a misconception common in media reports - the tale of the disappearing manufacturing sector. The NAM blog, ShopFloor, quotes a crisp refutation of the myth by Dan Ikenson at Cato. Click through to more good links. Here's the key, from Ikenson:

... real manufacturing value-added reached a record high level in 2007 (the last year for which final data are available).

... U.S. factories are the world’s most prolific, accounting for 25 percent of global manufacturing value-added. By comparison, Chinese factories account for 10.6 percent.

That productivity has been accompanied by employment decline and relocation, as well as a lot of anxiety in the old industrial strongholds in the Northeast and upper Midwest.

Which leads to the not so good news. KING5 News reports that a major Auburn manufacturer is leaving the state.

Hansen says 2 years ago the state told him he had to start paying a manufacturing tax that is costing the business one to two million dollars a year.  

“We just can’t remain competitive with that,” says General Manager Don Routh. 

Hansen put out the word that he was looking to move and was courted by states as far away as Wisconsin.  He settled on Nevada after buying out a competitor there. About half of his 150 employees are leaving the state with him. 

Somewhat reminiscent of this. 

Also on the theme of manufacturers hitting the road, Harley-Davidson is looking to possibly moving its York County, Pennsylvania operations, also citing a familiar theme.

Harley-Davidson told employees at its Springettsbury Township plant in May that it was considering moving the operations, which would affect more than 2,000 production workers.

Primary reasons that have emerged include inefficiencies at the site in both work rules and infrastructure.

I'll wrap up by pointing to a very good piece by Joel Kotkin and Bill Watkins in New Geography. Entitled "California Disease: Oregon at Risk of Economic Malady." It's a cautionary tale for Washington. They cite California's high taxes, unpredictable regulation, and deteriorating infrastructure, which have led Californians - and jobs and investment - to flee the state. Often, the people leaving end up in Oregon, without jobs but seeking a nice quality of life and lower cost of living.

Oregon may be at a crossroads. The state is richly endowed with many of the components of a high quality of life. People want to live in Oregon, and they are moving to Oregon even in hard times. Yet as the population swells, there's no concurrent growth in businesses and employment. Over time, this could pose serious problems. Remember, quality of life begins with a job, preferably a rewarding, well-paying job.

Right.