Manufacturing overcapacity built during the go-go 1990s gets the blame again this week for holding back our weakened economy. Apparently Bill Clinton wasn't the economic genius some would like for us to believe.
Rising imports from China are not to blame for the doldrums at U.S. factories, the Federal Reserve said in a report Thursday that took issue with the standard criticism among manufacturers that China is the source of their woes.Posted by Alan at October 24, 2003 11:26 PMEven as manufacturers accuse China of violating free trade laws and increase pressure on the Bush administration to take action against China, the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank said other issues, like weak export markets, were more important.
Besides economic weakness around the world, it cited a variety of homegrown factors, such as an overhang of investment from the boom years and productivity gains that have stymied new job growth.
via the Houston Chronicle
Full report (pdf) via the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago