manufacturing Archives - The Wisconsin Daily Star

Commentary: The Financialization of Nature

March 14, 2024 Wisconsin Daily Star Staff

Financialization: “A pattern of accumulation in which profit making occurs increasingly through financial channels rather than through trade and commodity production.”
– Greta Krippner, Economic Sociologist, University of Michigan

There are plenty of examples of how America’s economy shifted from a production-based economy to a financially-based economy over the past forty years. Starting around 1980, with the economies of post-World War II Europe and Japan fully rebuilt and roaring, and emerging Asian economies turning into powerhouses of manufacturing as well, America chose financialization as an alternative to rising up to meet the competition.

United Airlines CEO Says They Are Making Plans Without Boeing After Manufacturing Issues

January 23, 2024 Wisconsin Daily Star Staff

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said Tuesday that the company is making a plan to move forward without Boeing after the manufacturing company grounded its MAX 9 planes, according to CNBC.

Boeing has suffered a series of problems in the last several weeks after multiple planes had major mechanical and structural errors, forcing the company to ground all Max 9 aircraft with door plugs. Kirby told CNBC that the decision to ground the aircraft was the “straw that broke the camel’s back” for United.

New York Manufacturing Sees Biggest Plunge Since Pandemic Lockdowns

January 17, 2024 Wisconsin Daily Star Staff

The index for New York state’s general business conditions fell by 29 points to -43.7 for January, with a negative number indicating a contraction, declining to the lowest point since May 2020 when the state was struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new survey from the Federal Reserve of New York.

Accompanying the decline and contraction in general business conditions, shipments fell 25 index points, the number of unfilled orders remained high at -24.2 index points and the amount of inventory held shrank to -7.4 index points, according to the Empire State Manufacturing Survey conducted between Jan. 3 and 10. Despite poor current conditions, optimism about future activity levels by businesses increased, with the index rising 7 points but still remaining relatively low at 18.8 points, indicating that businesses expect an economic expansion in the coming months.

China’s Latest Data Dump Shows Economy Is Still Struggling to Regain Momentum

September 2, 2023 Wisconsin Daily Star Staff

New state economic data released Thursday shows that China is facing headwinds in its effort to revive its struggling economy, according to The Wall Street Journal.

China struggled in August with low manufacturing activity, exports and consumer spending, adding more negative factors to the Chinese economy, which is already facing a fumbling real estate market, according to the WSJ. The new data from China follows disappointing economic growth for the country in the second quarter of 2023, with the Chinese economy only growing 0.8% for the quarter as opposed to 2.2% in the first, totaling 6.3% for the year.

Wisconsin U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher’s Committee on China Hosts Roundtable Event on Chinese Communist Threat to U.S. Manufacturing

August 30, 2023August 29, 2023 M.D. Kittle

The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party will be in manufacturing-dependent Wisconsin Wednesday afternoon for a roundtable discussion on communist China’s “deliberate undermining of American manufacturing,” according to a press release.

Committee Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-WI-08) and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL-08) will host the roundtable beginning at 3 p.m. Wednesday in Stoughton, WI.

Biden Peddles Policy Success in Badger State; the Numbers Tell a Different Story

August 17, 2023August 16, 2023 M.D. Kittle

On the one-year anniversary of the ill-named Inflation Reduction Act, President Joe Biden paid a call on Milwaukee to sell his tax-and-spend policies that the White House likes to call “Bidenomics.”

But a lot of Badger State residents who have seen their earnings swallowed up by the inflation fueled in no small part by “Bidenomics” aren’t seeing the benefits the president is touting.

Commentary: Boosting Manufacturing in North America

February 10, 2023 RealClearWire

The world paid little attention when the leaders of North America met in a summit in Mexico City last month, but what they decided was momentous. President Biden, Mexican President Lopez-Obrador and Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau agreed to build on President Trump’s 2020 trade agreement to find new ways to integrate their economies, boosting manufacturing and significantly reducing reliance on Asia.

Biden Touts Economy in Wisconsin as Badger State Suffers Consequences of Big Government Policies

February 9, 2023 M.D. Kittle

President Joe Biden paid a call on Wisconsin Wednesday, touting job creation and boasting that the Big Government agenda he laid out in this week’s State of the State address will get the nation’s economy humming.

But the president’s cheerleading tour conflicts with the realities on the ground for Badger State businesses dealing with higher prices, supply chain issues and labor shortages.

Businesses Add Fewest Jobs in Two Years as Manufacturing Craters

December 1, 2022November 30, 2022 Wisconsin Daily Star Staff

Private companies added 127,000 jobs in November, missing investor expectations by more than 70,000 to post the worst result since January 2021, according to private payroll firm ADP and CNBC Monday.

The addition represented a sharp decline from the 239,000 new jobs reported by the firm in October. Industries that were most directly impacted by higher interest rates, such as construction, were hit the hardest by job cuts, while consumer-facing industries, such as hospitality, largely weathered the storm, according to ADP.

Manufacturing Leaders: American Businesses Face Major Issues Due to Inflationary Pressure

July 19, 2022July 18, 2022 The Center Square

Several manufacturing and business leaders are concerned about how inflationary pressures are hurting businesses through heightened input and transportation costs.

Participants at a round table event on Capitol Hill Thursday said that inflation has increased the cost of raw materials, making it harder for manufacturers to obtain what they need to do business.

The Global Chip Shortage Will Have a Major Impact on Consumers

September 11, 2021September 10, 2021 Wisconsin Daily Star Staff

The global chip shortage is beginning to impact consumers, driving up prices of smartphones, vehicles and personal electronics as manufacturers struggle to keep up with rising demand.

“We’re seeing 5% to 10% price increases right now,” Glen O’Donnell, vice president and research director at Forrester, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “They will increase more as this issue drags on.”

Semiconductors, the internal components essential to the functioning of almost every electronic device, have been in short supply since early 2020 due to high consumer demand of mobile electronics cloud services, and other products that require computer chips, according to O’Donnell. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the problem by stalling semiconductor production and disrupting supply chains, with demand for consumer electronics only skyrocketing due to more people working from home.