Major Players in the Global Game:
The United States
The U.S. remains the world’s economic engine. In early 2008, economists talked about “decoupling,” the idea the other economies in the world, especially newly emerging ones, were no longer dependent on the U.S. economy for their growth. The domestic housing crisis was beginning to exert downward pressure on U.S. GDP, but other nations’ growth seemed to be continuing unabated, which supported the decoupling argument... until those economies were hit with equal or greater force than the U.S. For the present, the adage that “when America sneezes, the world catches cold” remains true.
Western Europe
The EU, like the U.S. remains significant, but because of near-parity of wages between the two, and similar capabilities in terms of technology and productivity, this presentation does not examine the EU.
Mexico & South America
Ten, fifteen or twenty years ago, these were the nations that manufacturers and finishers viewed as competitors to the U.S. Many facilities went “south of the border.” Today, we don’t discuss them as much because a kind of equilibrium has been reached—business is no longer moving to these regions en masse, and experience revealed that there were quality limitations inherent to doing business there.
Eastern Europe & India
These regions have become more significant as manufacturing centers in recent years. India, of course, is also service center to the world. Any multinational, or even domestic company looking to outsource services thinks of India first.
China
China rose to prominence with amazing speed and agility. The 2008 Beijing Olympics brought the eyes of the world to this once-insular nation, but for the manufacturing and the finishing industry, what was more significant was that China had become known as the “workshop of the world.” What competitive advantage allowed China to earn this moniker?...
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