When Apple sells me a laptop, the profit is added to the US balance sheet, but the laptop itself is manufactured in China.
US-only manufacturing seems to be limited to aerospace (creaky), automotive (largely at death's door), IT hardware (aggressively outsourced), and military (heavily subsidised).
Pharma/bio, agribusiness and chemical seem to be reasonably healthy, and there's a nascent green sector. But I don't think you can take the national summary statistics at face value - the overall picture may not be quite as healthy.
How much of that output is manufactured elsewhere but counted as domestic product? When Apple sells me a laptop, the profit is added to the US balance sheet, but the laptop itself is manufactured in China.
The bits produced in China are counted as China's in domestic product. They'd be counted as American in national product.
Some of the other tech companies do produce here. I think (could be wrong) Apple is actually a little odd as tech companies go, with all, or almost all, of its production in China. Dell's got stuff in Appalachia. Intel's got stuff in the Southwest.
Obviously that's simplifying things too much, since they're manufacturing computers in America with RAM from Taiwan, processors from Phoenix, etc.
And obviously the jobs in Cupertino doing the development are valuable ones. There's a good contribution to GDP from that. Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin
I think (could be wrong) Apple is actually a little odd as tech companies go, with all, or almost all, of its production in China.
Apart from a couple of the major US manufacturers, its pretty much that the apples are coming from the same factories as the pcs nowadays, since the transfer over to Intel chips. Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
Most importantly, the Reality Distortion Field is still American-made, so I think we're alright for now. Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin
the Reality Distortion Field is still American-made
The importance of this is not to be underestimated! That is how all of this financialization and hollowing out of the economy can be out in the open and yet have only a few actually see it. IT IS CLOAKED IN PLAIN SIGHT, by, as it is otherwise know as, the "PR Tanks" and their paradigm--the source of the Reality Distortion Field. As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
In essence, RDF is the idea that Steve Jobs is able to convince people to believe almost anything with a mix of charm, charisma, bluster, exaggeration, and marketing. RDF is said to distort an audience's sense of proportion or scale. Small advances are applauded as breakthroughs. Interesting developments become turning points, or huge leaps forward. Those who use the term RDF contend that it is not an example of outright deception but more a case warping the powers of judgment. The term "audience" may refer to an individual whose attitudes Steve is intending to affect. Often the term is used as a derogatory remark to criticize Apple's products and the effect they have on the space-time continuum.
Often the term is used as a derogatory remark to criticize Apple's products and the effect they have on the space-time continuum.
