IndoCarib
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June 11, 2012 1:09 pm by Andrew Hill
Im fascinated by the first part in a new FT series on manufacturing, led by our expert Peter Marsh, who has a new book coming out on the topic.
In particular, I love the bar chart in this interactive graphic about the seven ages of industry (click on the chart tab when it opens).
As youll see, between 1830 and 1870, as output surged, there was a dramatic reordering of the global manufacturing hierarchy, which had been dominated by China and India for the preceding 18 centuries.
My first thought was that if those countries could lose their manufacturing edge so dramatically and so quickly during the 19th century Age of Science, there must be a risk that todays dominant manufacturers, notably the US, will fall away during what Peter dubs the New Industrial Revolution. He writes, however, that the balance of power in goods production is altering to the extent that the US and other high-cost nations may, if theyre clever, be able to retain their edge:
"This new period has the potential to turn winners into losers and also-rans into champions. It provides high-cost nations with a way back into areas of manufacturing some of them thought they had lost to emerging economies such as China and India".
That said, as the chart shows, China and India are already rebuilding their share of manufacturing output at speed. Who is to say that the 150-200 year period in which the UK, Germany and the US took a global lead in producing things wont turn out to have been a blip in Asias 2,000-year manufacturing hegemony?
China and India’s 2,000-year manufacturing reign | Business blog
Im fascinated by the first part in a new FT series on manufacturing, led by our expert Peter Marsh, who has a new book coming out on the topic.
In particular, I love the bar chart in this interactive graphic about the seven ages of industry (click on the chart tab when it opens).
As youll see, between 1830 and 1870, as output surged, there was a dramatic reordering of the global manufacturing hierarchy, which had been dominated by China and India for the preceding 18 centuries.
My first thought was that if those countries could lose their manufacturing edge so dramatically and so quickly during the 19th century Age of Science, there must be a risk that todays dominant manufacturers, notably the US, will fall away during what Peter dubs the New Industrial Revolution. He writes, however, that the balance of power in goods production is altering to the extent that the US and other high-cost nations may, if theyre clever, be able to retain their edge:
"This new period has the potential to turn winners into losers and also-rans into champions. It provides high-cost nations with a way back into areas of manufacturing some of them thought they had lost to emerging economies such as China and India".
That said, as the chart shows, China and India are already rebuilding their share of manufacturing output at speed. Who is to say that the 150-200 year period in which the UK, Germany and the US took a global lead in producing things wont turn out to have been a blip in Asias 2,000-year manufacturing hegemony?
China and India’s 2,000-year manufacturing reign | Business blog
