Submission + - physical economy collapses (larouchepac.com)
astar writes: "Physical
economy collapses
Investment in Machine
Tools in U.S. Continues Disappearing
October 24,
2009 (LPAC)U.S. manufacturing technology consumption was 67.7% lower in
the first eight months of 2009, than the same period the year before,
measured in dollar values (i.e., price), according to the monthly United States Manufacturing Technology Consumption Report (USMTC), issued on Oct. 12
by the Association for Manufacturing Technology and the American Machine Tool
Distributors' Association.
That is, sales of machine tools and related technologies in the U.S.
totalled barely over $1 billion from January through August of this year
($1,041.57 million, to be precise), heading towards roughly an eighth of what
it was in 1980, when U.S. firms invested close to $8 billion in machine
tools. In 1980, furthermore, some 70-75% of U.S. machine tools were still
produced in the country; now, they are almost entirely imported from abroad.
EIR, in its April 2002 Special Report, "The End of A Delusion," graphed
the production of U.S. machine tools from 1974 to 2001, in 1982 constant
dollars and in units. By 2001, production had fallen to 2 billion 1982
dollars, and around 160,000 units. Today, it is half of that already
depression-level figure.
As LPAC reported on Oct. 9, representatives of the machine tool industry
testified before Congress that day, that 75% of the metalworking/machine-tool
manufacturing companies say they cannot secure sufficient credit for
day-to-day operations, recapitalization, expansion, or retooling; the
precision machine industry has shrunk its operations and employment by 40% in
the past year; the auto supply industry, by 50%.(USMTC), issued on Oct. 12
by the Association for Manufacturing Technology and the American Machine Tool
Distributors' Association.
That is, sales of machine tools and related technologies in the U.S.
totalled barely over $1 billion from January through August of this year
($1,041.57 million, to be precise), heading towards roughly an eighth of what
it was in 1980, when U.S. firms invested close to $8 billion in machine
tools. In 1980, furthermore, some 70-75% of U.S. machine tools were still
produced in the country; now, they are almost entirely imported from abroad.
EIR, in its April 2002 Special Report, "The End of A Delusion," graphed
the production of U.S. machine tools from 1974 to 2001, in 1982 constant
dollars and in units. By 2001, production had fallen to 2 billion 1982
dollars, and around 160,000 units. Today, it is half of that already
depression-level figure.
As LPAC reported on Oct. 9, representatives of the machine tool industry
testified before Congress that day, that 75% of the metalworking/machine-tool
manufacturing companies say they cannot secure sufficient credit for
day-to-day operations, recapitalization, expansion, or retooling; the
precision machine industry has shrunk its operations and employment by 40% in
the past year; the auto supply industry, by 50%."