This article, however, was particularly interesting in that it turned to plastics manufacturing operations, notably Nypro and Atrium Medical, to delve into a discussion about the kinds of jobs that characterize modern manufacturing.

And I also learned a new bit of jargon: the "high-road" approach to employment.

I won't try to give everything away. You can read the article here: "No, manufacturing jobs won't save the economy".

I'll be curious to hear the thoughts of readers. As we know, manufacturing, while trendy and important to talk about, has suffered from diminished prestige in recent years, particularly in the U.S. Part of this is due to the changing nature of the economy and the sorts of jobs and industries that are taking over.

But the question that lies hidden in talk of well-paying manufacturing jobs is whether or not they're actually all that well-paying any more, and whether the negative perception of manufacturing isn't also influenced by the notion that they're not the same sort of jobs that throughout America's post-war boom a worker could support a family on.

When we talk about manufacturing, what we see in this article, I think, goes to the heart of an issue that needs to be discussed.