Backdrop for Obama’s announcement of fuel-efficiency grants? A couple of foreign-built trucks
Jason Reed / ReutersIn August, President Obama announced, at this event in Indiana, new funds to support the building of vehicles like the one behind him — which was manufactured in England.
F. Brinley BrutonReporter
Photographs of President Barack Obama run on a constant loop in [...]
Michael Mandel
This morning the BLS released its “International Comparisons of Manufacturing Productivity and Unit Labor Cost Trends, 2008”. And guess what? According to the BLS, the U.S. manufacturing sector had the fastest productivity growth in the world in 2008—1.2%, tied with South Korea. Meanwhile, Japan, Canada, Germany, France and Japan all had manufacturing productivity [...]
By MAX COLCHESTER And CHRISTINA PASSARIELLO
PARIS—France’s specialized embroiderers, seamstresses, tailors and hatmakers—once the backbone of a thriving fashion business—are today among the hardest-hit victims of the global slowdown in luxury-goods sales. As fashion houses cancel orders and cut costs, these small businesses are now turning to the French government for help.
On Monday, France’s Prime [...]