Manufacturing's Economic Impact: So Much Bigger Than We Think

摘要

Two measures commonly used by the government to measure manufacturing's overall impact on society are badly underestimating the impact of that critical sector. One is the proportion of gross domestic product for which manufacturing accounts. The other is the "multiplier effect," which measures the impact on other industries from an increase in economic activity by a specific industry. Official national statistics state that manufacturing's proportion of GDP-its annual value-added divided by the value of all goods and services produced in the country-stands at about 11%.The U.S. Department of Commerce finds the total requirement manufacturing multiplier is around 1.4.