U.S. manufacturing is making a comeback, says Mark Perry economist at AEI. Because of innovative fracking technologies that have made shale gas abundant and cheap, manufacturing jobs are quickly returning to the United States, as the cost advantage of producing overseas disappears. Perry estimates that the revival of manufacturing production in the United States has the potential to create 3 million jobs in the next decade:
The impact of the shale revolution is profound because the economic growth it continues to produce is not confined to any single region of the U.S. Cheap natural gas is strengthening energy security across the country and is fueling a resurgence in manufacturing – particularly the most energy-intensive industrial products, such as iron and steel, bulk chemicals, petrochemicals, plastics, cement, petroleum refining, glass, paper and food products.
Within three years, and possibly even sooner, it will be cheaper for most U.S. companies to manufacture goods for the American market at home, compared to producing those same goods in Asia.
