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I sure hope things change for the better in the country as a whole. I've been reading about China's first trade deficit, improving wages, and a lack of competitiveness warranting a return of jobs back to the USA. I say bring it on!
Manufacturing seems to be coming back, and the places most equipped to handle its return are not in the Sun Belt.
The Dakotas are growing in population, and their per-capita GDP is skyrocketing, and they have the lowest unemployment rates in the nation, by far. Droves of people moving to an area that doesn't have enough jobs to begin with is not a recipe for a great economic future, especially if the people you're gaining are not particularly educated, which seems to be the case.
Thankfully the Dakotas and Nebraska (which I don't think is growing quite as fast) are not popular spots for people to relocate to absent jobs. Thus we don't get a lot of people moving without jobs unlike the Sunbelt which is completely fine with us!
i think its your post that doesn't make sense. People have repeated it multiple times, and I will say it again. Who says people don't go out in the sunbelt during the summer. Some people jog in parks here 365.25 days a year here. In Austin they probably do it for 400
If people go outdoors all the time during the summer, why was air conditioning so important for mass migration to the South?
Manufacturing seems to be coming back, and the places most equipped to handle its return are not in the Sun Belt.
Although cities in the Midwest in particular still have a lot of infrastructure in place that facilitates a resurgence of manufacturing, don't count the Sunbelt, particularly the South, out just yet:
With China’s currency increasing in value, he says, its cost advantage “will drop to single digits after factoring in inventory and shipping costs, with productivity-adjusted labor costs effectively converging by 2015 or so.”
That, he says, makes low-cost labor states in the South, such as Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas, attractive as manufacturing hubs for the U.S. market.
Southern states, which don’t have a strong labor-union tradition, are more likely to benefit from [a resurgence of manufacturing] than Ohio and other parts of the Midwest, said economist Daniel Meges of Cleveland-based Chmura Economics & Analytics.
“I doubt that Mansfield will ever get a Westinghouse-appliance-type operation back, or that GM will reopen their Dayton plant,” he said. “The trick will be for smaller, more-nimble manufacturers based in Ohio to work their way into the supply chains of those manufacturing expansions that may take place in those southern U.S. states.”
Manufacturing seems to be coming back, and the places most equipped to handle its return are not in the Sun Belt.
I'm not sure what that's based on. It's cheaper to build a new plant than rebuild an old one. Add cheaper energy, relatively lower labor costs, less regulation, lower taxes, et al, and I'd really scratch my head at that statement.
However, the first part of your statement does have some truth to it. The real labor costs of manufacturing in China have risen roughly 30% in the past couple of years, and that doesn't even begin to count the cost of transportation, as well as the attendant lag from order to deliver. This is especially crucial in industries such as furniture where a customer can typically expect a 13- to 16-week delay from order to delivery, with a much higher percentage of damage in shipment. In the United States lag time is less than half that.
I'm not sure what that's based on. It's cheaper to build a new plant than rebuild an old one. Add cheaper energy, relatively lower labor costs, less regulation, lower taxes, et al, and I'd really scratch my head at that statement.
However, the first part of your statement does have some truth to it. The real labor costs of manufacturing in China have risen roughly 30% in the past couple of years, and that doesn't even begin to count the cost of transportation, as well as the attendant lag from order to deliver. This is especially crucial in industries such as furniture where a customer can typically expect a 13- to 16-week delay from order to delivery, with a much higher percentage of damage in shipment. In the United States lag time is less than half that.
With low labor costs come lower skill workers (well maybe this was true until higher skill workers lost their jobs in the Great Recession). The South generally has terrible public schools. Hopefully they add more community college training programs. I do agree that unions and regulation have made some states like Illinois and Michigan uncompetitive even though they have a lot of high skill workers. The South is going to have to add A LOT of manufacturing jobs to recover from this recession. A few people still believe the grass is greener but unlike several years ago, many are not buying the realtor-promoted Kool-Aid.
This post fits my preferences. Living in the northeast, I find the summers unbearable with how humid it gets. I could not even imagine living in the southeast where it is humid and hot for even longer.
If you go high enough in elevation, Boone, NC, you hardly ever need to use the air conditioning there. Average summer high temperature 79F. Elevation 3,300ft.
With low labor costs come lower skill workers (well maybe this was true until higher skill workers lost their jobs in the Great Recession). The South generally has terrible public schools. Hopefully they add more community college training programs. I do agree that unions and regulation have made some states like Illinois and Michigan uncompetitive even though they have a lot of high skill workers. The South is going to have to add A LOT of manufacturing jobs to recover from this recession. A few people still believe the grass is greener but unlike several years ago, many are not buying the realtor-promoted Kool-Aid.
Also, The economy in the South and Southwest is still far too dependent on population growth to drive job growth. In states with more mature economies with a highly educated and skilled population that isn't the case.
Despite gentrification in urban cities, the migration downwards is soaring and isn't expected to end any time soon. Construction and real estate is going to continue although there were setbacks in those sectors due to the recession. Not only are blacks and hispanics leaving the NE as the years go by, whites are leaving in huge numbers as well.
As much as we don't like it, the housing boom is coming back.
The sunbelt boom is not going to end probably until the next 20 years.
What is going to happen in 20 years?
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What is going to happen in 20 years?
