Made in the USA: The Rise and Retreat of American Manufacturing – Smil Václav (2015)

This book provides an overview of the state of manufacturing in America, past and present, and explains why the sector and the jobs it creates remain essential to the American economy. Vaclav Smil rebuts the idea that manufacturing is a relic of the predigital past or that its decline is a desirable step towards a pure service economy. He argues that no advanced economy can prosper without a strong, innovative manufacturing sector and the employment it provides. Smil traces how manufacturing became a fundamental force behind America’s economic, strategic and social dominance, describing its rapid rise at the end of the nineteenth century, its consolidation and modernization between the two world wars, its role in enabling mass consumption after 1945 and its recent decline. He examines the argument that sending low-value jobs overseas matters little because high-value work remains in the United States, and asks whether such a society should consist of a small number of workers in high-value-added jobs and masses of unemployed people. The book assesses possible responses to America’s manufacturing crisis, including lower corporate tax rates, support for research and development and improved public education.