Good news, bad news, same news . . . the economy has found the bottom.

We all have been reading and hearing that the economy has to bottom out before we can have a recovery. The good news is, there is growing agreement, and even some supporting evidence, that the United States and other parts of the global economy have, in fact, bottomed out. In the future some pundit will be able to declare solemnly that this was our lowest hour. (Sincere apologies to Winston Churchill.) Things are looking up a bit. But just a bit.

New housing sales, a leader among the factors that took us into the current recession, turned up somewhat in June and July. Okay, the prices on those new homes averaged 15-17% lower than a year ago, but average house selling prices also have risen recently, albeit slightly.

However, since the bottom we are scraping along is lower than any since the Great Depression, it will be difficult for some time to hear upside news that doesn’t have a downside attached.

The deeper the hole you’re in, the harder it is to climb out, and the longer it will take. Everything I’ve read or heard about the economy bottoming out or turning up has been accompanied by a warning that the recovery may feel as bad as the Great Recession itself, and will last longer. How long? No one really knows, but they talk in years, not months.

So, the good news—we’ve hit bottom and are into recovery—is also the bad news: Welcome to a slow, protracted recovery.

The U.S. manufacturing sector, of which our molding/moldmaking business is a part, has been among the hardest hit in this downturn. But at long last there are some rays of light breaking through the fog of ignorance regarding how essential our work is to a healthy economy. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) has proposed that the United States have a national manufacturing policy. Others in Washington are making similar noises, often responding to input from the SPI, AMBA, and others.

Each of us needs to support such efforts. One very important task is educating your neighbors and local government, the oft-cited grass roots. To do that well, we need to know what to say. For plastics, the SPI has many resources available through its website, as do other associations. And there are many books and websites dealing with the overall manufacturing sector, including a new book published late last month that I recommend highly.

Manufacturing a Better Future for America is a collection of articles by a variety of competent experts on the sorry state of U.S. manufacturing, how it got that way, and why it needs to rise once again to glory. It is published by the Alliance for American Manufacturing and you can buy it from Amazon.com and other booksellers. It’s crammed with info every American should know—not just us.

Allow us to start you off with one great talking point. Read the first two paragraphs of Glenn Beall’s “By Design” column for a little fortification.

Rob Neilley
Editor in Chief
[email protected]