Today’s Chicago Tribune contained an article entitled, Hazy feelings about masks settle over China like smog. Air pollution in China’s industrialized areas is epic, lasting days on end. In Beijing, about 150 companies have either halted or curbed production to cut emissions and the state-run Xinhua News Agency is reminding people to avoid outdoor activities and to wear masks. And yet few people go out of their way to protect themselves.

An 84-year-old man, exercising in a park, says rather philosophically, “China has 1.3 billion people, fighting these kinds of environmental problems will take a long time . . . . When Mao was alive we didn’t have any time off . . . all in all this isn’t bad.”

Go figure! Apparently, everything is relative. But, if you’re here in the United States and waiting for goods produced in one of those Chinese factories, your customers will likely show little or no patience. They just want, what they want, when they want it.

Shanghai, December 2013, 477 PPM2.5


Harbin, October 2013, 600-800 PPM2.5

What can you see?
You see the buildings, dimly.
You see the ghost-like people wearing masks.
You see the smog: heavy, heavy concentrations of particulate matter. (25-40 times WHO standards.)

What don't you see in the photographs?
You do not see the damage done to the respiratory systems of the people.
You do not see the men, women and children seeking medical care.
You do not see the men, women and children confined to their homes.
You do not see the offices and factories, without their full complement of workers.
You do not see the untrained and temporary workers filling in for their missing colleagues.
You do not see the poor, sub-standard work product and the missed production schedules.
And, if you are outsourcing your production in China, you may not recognize the damage that this environment is doing to your reputation and to your bottom line.

Walk, don’t run to the nearest exit!

It’s not scary enough that North Korea is threatening to attack South Korea and nuke the U.S., now there is real concern in the South that the North may shut down their Kaesong Industrial Project as well!

Kaesong is home to approximately 120 South Korean companies, employing 50,000 North Korean workers, making household goods. Goods that the South Korean companies are attempting to label as “Made in Korea,” in order to export to the U.S. at reduced tariffs under our Free Trade Agreement.

Well, that’s just great. Not.
Displaced U.S. workers buying cheap, Kaesong-made goods, putting hard currency into Kim Jung Un’s pocket, so that he can develop bigger and better nuclear weapons!

Let’s put an end to this insanity . . . bring the work home!

In a February 23rd post (The Huffington Post), China Admits Existence Of ‘Cancer Villages’ In Report, As Pollution Concerns Mount, Dominique Mosbergen reports on the environmental disaster that is China.

Apparently, Agence France-Presse recently reported that China’s environment ministry made the admission in a report about pollution, in which authorities acknowledged the dangers posed to human health by harmful chemicals – many of which are banned in developed nations – that are produced and consumed in large quantities in the country.

Over the past few years, the term “cancer village” has been increasingly used by the media, as environmentalists have called attention to China’s skyrocketing cancer rates and deteriorating human health in areas near polluted waterways and factories.

One can but imagine the growing reticence on the part of U.S.-based purchasing agents and manufacturing engineers toward travel to China. A predictable reduction in hands-on management must, then, suggest a deterioration in the stability of America’s “China factory,” calling into question the quality and consistency of their productive output.

Let’s bring the work home!

In his article in the Chicago Tribune, China pays the price for dirty air, losing 3% of GDP, David Pierson reports on the environmental disaster that is China.

Flights cancelled and highways closed due to impenetrable smog. Factories ordered shut, residents urged to remain indoors and hospitals flooded with respiratory cases. Not a particularly good “environment” for manufacturing consistency.

Pierson introduces us to Zhang Jian, 35, whose 2-year-old son is plagued by chronic sinus infections; caused, according to Zhang, by the pollution. Zhang is saving up for a top-of-the-line air purifier, but as long as the family lives in China, he feels mostly powerless to ensure his son’s health. “Our lives don’t really improve unless we leave the country,” he said.

Zhang may find it difficult to leave, however, America’s purchasers of foreign made goods should find it much easier. This is the why and how of re-vitalizing America’s economic base. The idea of Restart America is to bring focus and force to what is occurring naturally.

Let’s pick up the pace!

In Alejandra Cancino’s article in the Business section of Sunday’s Chicago Tribune (December 2, 2012), Designer made herself into a manufacturer, Ms. Cancino chronicles shoe designer Annie Mohaupt’s efforts to start a fashion footwear business.

From the beginning Annie’s wood-soled sandals were a hit. At first completely handmade, in time Annie invested in a $70,000 computer-driven wood cutting and shaping machine. As demand grew, Annie felt that she could not keep pace and that’s when she flew to China to meet with two sourcing agents. The American man and Chinese woman hooked her up with a shoe factory in Dongguan that was making high-end fashion shoes for internationally recognized brands.

There were problems from the beginning: issues with the prototypes, and even after sending instructions to the factory, the initial shipment of 1,000 pairs proved to be of very poor quality. Worse, when Annie tried to hold up the next order of 1,500 pairs, she was informed that it was too late: the order had shipped.

Having cost her more than $20,000 and wreaking havoc with her customers, Annie severed her relationship with China and focused instead on producing her products in her Chicago workspace.

Today, in complete control of her business, Annie and her staff are turning out top-quality footwear, introducing new designs and expanding her customer base.

Whether it’s called ‘insourcing’ or ‘basic survival’, this is the why and how of re-vitalizing America’s economic base. The idea of Restart America is to bring focus and force to what is occurring naturally.

Let’s pick up the pace!

In an article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, ‘Reshoring’ gains appeal for some, Dee DePass reports that some companies find the hassle of operating abroad is not worth the headache (and the cost).

Whether it’s called ‘reshoring’ or ‘insourcing’, this is the why and how of re-vitalizing America’s economic base. The idea of Restart America is to bring focus and force to what is occurring naturally.

Let’s pick up the pace!

The headline reads, “Fed Announces Aggressive New Stimulus To Combat Unemployment,” and everyone is supposed to cheer. Buying bonds, keeping interest rates low and any number of other policy twists and turns may stimulate the financial sector, but from the vantage point of the millions of unemployed, the Fed is “naked” . . . full of bluster, but without any real means to effect change.

OK, maybe that’s not entirely fair, the Fed has improved the general economic environment: aerating the soil, adding nutrients and watering generously. Trouble is, there aren’t enough “plants” in the garden.

They have done all that they can do. Isn’t it time for America’s importers to step up and find sources here at home? Orders and more orders, . . . now that would provide a real stimulus.

Today’s Chicago Tribune reported on the four year sentence handed down in Federal court to Hanjuan Jin for stealing trade secrets. The case involved telecommunications technology stolen from Motorola (Ameet Sachdev, Tribune reporter).

In handing down the sentence, Judge Castillo said, “In today’s world, the most valuable thing that anyone has is technology. The most important thing this country can do is protect its trade secrets.”

A fine sentiment, however, this appears to be a simple case of theft. Trade secrets or diamonds, the point is that something was stolen.

For more than 25 years, American industry happily transferred its technology (trade secrets) to foreign entities. We told them what to make and how to make it. And in the process we enabled them to develop their own capacity to innovate.

Where is the court of competent jurisdiction for that “theft” of trade secrets?

In an article in today’s Chicago Tribune, In shipbuilding, party’s over, David Pierson, Tribune Newspapers, reports on the dramatic downturn in China’s shipbuilding industry.

For a decade the government poured money into building the ships needed to bring raw materials in to its factories and finished electronics, toys and other exports out.

Now, there is a glut of those ships as China’s economy is decelerating. “Fewer customers for Chinese exports and a shrinking appetite at home for raw materials . . . .”