Manufacturing & Technology News articles from December 2008

Manufacturing & Technology News archives from December 2008

R&D will not be included in Obama economic stimulus package.
December 3, 2008... Don't look to President-elect Barack Obama's chief economic advisor to direct any of the massive economic stimulus package toward funding for science and technology. When asked by Manufacturing & Technology News at a recent event at the...

Business group claims there was no 'fair trade' mandate in election.
December 3, 2008... "Free trade" and "fair trade" policy opponents are kicking up a storm over how to interpret the November 4 election results. The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC), which represents large international corporate interests such as Wal-Mart,...

The CIA peers into a crystal ball and finds China to be the main story of 2025.
December 3, 2008... America's place in the world by 2025 will be radically different than it is today, thanks to the continued "unprecedented shift in relative wealth and economy power" to China, according to the Central Intelligence Agency. In a new 99-page...

Electric utilities submit applications to build new nuclear reactors.
December 3, 2008... The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is busy accepting applications for new nuclear reactors. The latest is from Detroit Edison for a new unit at its Fermi site about 30 miles southwest of Detroit. The NRC is reviewing the Detroit Edison...

The economic fallout would be catastrophic.(Why Detroit Needs A Bailout)
December 3, 2008... The financial crisis that began in 2007 has been persistently marked by muddled thinking and haphazard policymaking. Now, the United States Treasury is headed for a mistake of historic and catastrophic proportions by refusing to bail out...

Defense industrial base would take a direct hit.(Why Detroit Needs A Bailout)
December 3, 2008... For nearly two decades, I have been researching the national security implications of the erosion of the industrial base. A few years ago, the House of Representatives' Small Business Committee asked me to analyze the systemic relationships...

Federal $$$s prime the U.S. pump.
December 3, 2008... A massive surge of government spending is doing a lot to keep the United States out of a severe recession. The third quarter decrease in the gross domestic product of 0.5 percent would have been a lot worse had it not been for a 13.6 percent...

The Big three's big plans.
December 3, 2008... GM, Ford and Chrysler have submitted their "stabilization plans" to the House Financial Services Committee in the hopes of receiving billions of dollars. They are posted on the Web and are worthy of a look: Chrysler's plan is 14 pages:...

U.S. textile industry braces itself.
December 3, 2008... The United States textile industry could be on the edge of oblivion, due to the coming expiration of U.S. quotas on Chinese products, and China's decision to increase its textile subsidies by $10 billion, according to the National Council of...

The view from an American manufacturer: to fix the economy fix the trade deficit.
December 3, 2008... Even the most optimistic among us must now realize that the United States is in a recession, but if we all had good paying jobs we would not be in a recession. We have lost 4 million manufacturing jobs since October 2002. There are now over 10...

'Fair' traders are perplexed by Obama's pick for USTR.
December 29, 2008... President-elect Barack Obama's selection of former Dallas, Texas, mayor Ron Kirk as his United States Trade Representative has thrown the fair trade community for a loop. Kirk, a lawyer with the respected Houston firm of Vinson & Elkins,...

Mass layoffs plague manufacturing sector.
December 29, 2008... The U.S. manufacturing sector is getting clobbered with almost a record number of mass layoffs. Manufacturing workers continue to bear the brunt of mass layoff events, even though manufacturing employment has already declined by 20 percent...

November job losses are, ooh.
December 29, 2008... The November jobs report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Dec. 5 stirred alarm in economic circles. The loss of 533,000 jobs in November, along with an upward revision to 320,000 jobs lost in October and 403,000 jobs lost in...

2009 doesn't look so good for America's workforce.
December 29, 2008... Employees need to get ready for some tough days ahead, according to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). In a survey of human resource managers, 60 percent said they expect their company or organization to lay people off in 2009,...

Federal budget quickly goes bust.
December 29, 2008... It has taken the first two months of the current federal fiscal year for the federal budget deficit to almost equal the total red ink for all of 2008, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. The $401-billion deficit posted for the first two...

Calif. projects shortage of educated people.
December 29, 2008... California's need for college-educated workers is outpacing the state's ability to produce them and the gap is expected to widen in the future, according to the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC). More than 40 percent of California...

One major high-tech trade assn. remains.
December 29, 2008... Washington, D.C., has one less major high-tech trade association. The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) has formally merged with AEA, formerly the American Electronics Association. The new merged trade group will now be known...

The hemorrhage continues: U.S. loses $2-billion per day.
December 29, 2008... The U.S. trade deficit unexpected increased in October to $57.2 billion, despite a sharp downturn in economic activity and a sharp decrease in the price of oil. But the persistent deficit of almost $2 billion a day didn't stop the Bush...

U.S. government provides billions to boost foreign trade rivals.
December 29, 2008... The United States is running a trade deficit of $700 billion, and a budget deficit of more than $1 trillion this coming year, but the federal government is busy spending billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars building up its competitors in global...

USTR candidate didn't quite say what everybody is saying he said.
December 29, 2008... The trade policy community was aflutter when it was reported that Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) turned down President-elect Barack Obama's job offer of being the United States Trade Representative. The reason for his decision, as widely...

The chief of staff at the National Institute of Standards and Technology has decided to leave his post.(PEOPLE)
December 29, 2008... The chief of staff at the National Institute of Standards and Technology has decided to leave his post. Mat Heyman has accepted a job at U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) to be in charge of external affairs and strategic integration. While serving at...

The Association for Manufacturing Technology.(PEOPLE)
December 29, 2008... The Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT) has a new president. Robert Simpson has taken over the reins from John Byrd who retired after five years as president and is pursuing venture capital work in the field of medical equipment....

Copper and Brass Fabricators Council.(PEOPLE)
December 29, 2008... The Copper and Brass Fabricators Council has a new president. David Hartquist, a partner in the law firm of Kelley Drye & Warren LLP, has taken over from Joseph Mayer, who is retiring from the post. Hartquist is in charge of Kelley Drye's...

Bill Canis, former acting president of the National Manufacturing Institute, NAM's think tank, is looking for a job.(PEOPLE)
December 29, 2008... Bill Canis, former acting president of the National Manufacturing Institute, NAM's think tank, is looking for a job. "The job has been abolished," he says. Canis hopes to stay in the manufacturing community in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining...

Michigan's woes follow Gov. Engler to NAM.
December 29, 2008... The "Voice of Manufacturing" in Washington, D.C., just lost a few decibels. The National Association of Manufacturers is going through the painful process of layoffs. "[T]he economic realities facing our members are impacting our budget and...

Respected science aide Jim Turner will retire from Congress.
December 29, 2008... One of Congress's longest serving staff aides has announced his retirement from Congress. Jim Turner, chief counsel on the House Committee on Science and Technology, will leave his post on Dec. 31. Having served as a Democratic staff member for...

EPA holds efficient building competition.
December 29, 2008... A government contest to design the best green building has been launched by the Environmental Protection Agency. The Lifecycle Building Challenge is inviting architects, product developers, environmentalists and students to submit designs for...

NIST seeks ideas for technology funding.
December 29, 2008... The National Institute of Standards and Technology is asking the private sector and academia to submit ideas on critical technology projects that could be funded through its Technology Innovation Program. In a Dec. 16 Federal Register notice,...

Customs advisory board continues with zero U.S. mfg. representation.
December 29, 2008... U.S. manufacturing companies have once again been shut out of one of the federal government's most important trade advisory groups. The Customs and Border Protection's Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of Customs and Border Protection...

Feds go on massive spending spree.
December 29, 2008... There is another massive financial bubble quickly building: runaway federal government spending and debt. The U.S. federal government spent an unbelievable amount of additional money in its fiscal year 2008 ending in September, according...

2009 calendar.(Calendar)
December 29, 2008... January 12 ProMat 2009--Solutions That Make Supply Chain Work, Chicago, Ill., http://www.promatshow.com. January 15-16 Product Development Excellence, Memphis, Tenn., www.marcusevansbb.com/PDE. January 15-16 Product Safety, New...

The talking head tours America's heartland.
December 29, 2008... David Byrne is a rock musician who rose to fame when his band, the Talking Heads in the 1980s, teamed up with musical genius Brian Eno and released albums of unheralded creativity and energy. Byrne, a cerebral New Yorker, toured the country...

Upward spike in U.S. bankruptcies.
December 29, 2008... Bankruptcies are soaring. During the third quarter of 2008, there were a total of 292,291 business and personal bankruptcies filed, a 34 percent increase over the same period of 2007. Total filings for the first nine months of 2008 were up 35...

Letters to the editor.(Letter to the editor)
December 29, 2008... Concerning Larry Summers' comment in the December 3 issue of MTN: "But I thought to myself there was something odd about the reward structure of our society." Now he realizes it. Larry Summers is one of the guys who ran our economy and was at...

U.S. trucking industry braces for downturn.
December 29, 2008... New regulations on diesel truck emissions will lead to a "dramatic drop in new truck and engine purchases, which will ultimately lead to a breakdown in the trucking industry," according to the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association...