After recently reading a great piece by George Friedman the geopolitical strategist at Strafor, I have come to the conclusion that while the GM bankruptcy is a setback for the economy, the employees of the company and its related businesses, it is not the end of U.S. industrial dominance.
In 2006 U.S. industrial production equaled $2.8 trillion, the largest in the world, and more than the production of Japan and China combined. Auto manufacturers and suppliers accounted for only 5.54% of the entire value added U.S. industrial output.
Freidman contends and we agree that the “collapse of the automotive manufacturing sector simply represents the culling of the least-efficient sector of American manufacturing”. The future of U.S. economic prosperity resides with our ability to continue to dominate high technology manufacturing, which include computers, space travel, nuclear and communications.
