A123 的故事頗有點意思：政府花費幾個億來扶持，結果還是扶不起的阿斗。在大量虧損之後，如果賣掉，除了來自中國的萬向節集團有興趣之外，好像還沒有人敢接手這個燙手的山芋。可是，如果賣給了中國的公司，聽起來，又好像是美國政府出資“扶持了”（注意到是過去時！）中國公司，並且，隨後還有一筆巨款必須繼續注入，繼續扶持。

如果不賣吧，公司面臨的結果也只有破產一條路可走，帶來的，又必然是更多的失業和更大的經濟損失。

美國的政客，對於經濟運作的理解，就是這麼的幼稚和自以為是，並且，還能夠繼續厚着臉皮唱高調。

下面是十家紮根美國本土的製造業公司的名單。大家可以好好的思索一下這些公司的產品特色，來從經濟效益的角度看看，到底是什麼樣的公司值得在美國本土製造。即使是這些頑固的守土者，又到底能夠持續多久，也是一個很大的問好。大家可能還記得，在金融危機發生時，戴維斯不得不花巨大代價求巴菲特救命的一幕了。

離開了經濟規律，結果都是低效率和浪費。這是任何人都改變不了的事實。

管理經濟，特別是在目前的環境下，還是選擇一些懂行的人來比較好。

世界在變，時代在變。如果美國的政治家們不會變，只是滿足於書呆子式的政治理念，恐怕，在這些人的手裡，美國的領導地位也很快會被忽悠掉的。

美國房市有希望復甦嗎？

Ten Surprising Products Still Made In America

July 3, 2012 by 247wallst

Try taking your everyday shopping trip to your nearest department or grocery store and buy only American. A little difficult? Employment in America’s manufacturing sector has experienced a precipitous decline in recent years. The U.S. lost 33.1 percent of its manufacturing jobs between 2000-2010, according to the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation. Many of those jobs ended up going to countries such as China, India and Brazil that provide cheaper labor and have looser employment regulations.

But because costs of labor and energy are now on the rise overseas, manufacturing may be in the early stages of a rebound in the U.S. An April study by the Boston Consulting Group found that a third of manufacturers with revenue over $1 billion were considering moving jobs back to the United States. “At 58 cents an hour, bringing manufacturing back was impossible, but at $3 to $6 an hour, where wages are today in coastal China, all of a sudden the equation changes,” Harold L. Sirkin, a managing director at BCG told The New York Times.

While some companies are considering returning jobs to the U.S., some brands never went away. 24/7 Wall St. compiled a list of 10 highly visible American brands that are still made in the States. All of the products are well known to consumers. While most are market leaders, what makes them unique is that the competition manufactures their products abroad — or they’re the only game in town.

Just because a company’s product made the list doesn’t mean that it hasn’t taken advantage of overseas labor. Companies such as 3M and Whirlpool both employ thousands of people outside of the U.S. But these companies still manufacture some products at home. Several companies on the list, like Oreck Corp. and Weber-Stephen, have products that are manufactured in the U.S., but not every piece used to make the product was made here.

These are 10 surprising products still made in America.

1. Intel chips
Parent company: Intel Corp.
Headquarters: Santa Clara, Calif.

Chipmaker Intel currently produces more than 75 percent of its microprocessors in the U.S., despite international purchases accounting for 75 percent of sales. The company is currently working on a state-of-the-art semiconductor production plant in Arizona, which is slated to open in 2013. The new plant is expected to cost approximately $5 billion and will employ thousands of American workers.

Maybe the competition is taking a hint from Intel. Rival Samsung, which is based in Seoul, began manufacturing A5 processors, critical components of the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S, in Austin, Texas, late last year. Although that new iPad you received for your birthday was still made overseas, it had a few American parts in it.

2. Pyrex
Parent company: World Kitchen, LLC
Headquarters: Rosemont, Ill.

Pyrex is one of the most widely-known makers of kitchen containers and bakeware found in 80 percent of American households. Corning Inc. started producing Pyrex in the U.S. in 1915. Though the brand changed owners in 1998, when it was sold to World Kitchen, production has never left the country. The tempered soda-lime glass products have been made in Charleroi, Pa. since the 1940s. About 2,500 people are employed in the United States for manufacturing and distributing.

3. Oreck XL
Parent company: Oreck Corporation
Headquarters: Duluth, Minn.

Oreck, one of the nation’s top vacuum makers and a staple among late-night infomercials, was founded by David Oreck in 1963. Though the company began by supplying products to the hospitality industry, the popularity of its products with hotel workers inspired later expansion to the consumer market. The company’s marquee vacuum, the Oreck XL, is manufactured in Cookeville, Tenn. Some of the world’s largest retailers such as Target and Costco sell store-specific versions of the XL. The company’s other vacuum, the Oreck Magnesium, is manufactured in China, but all XL vacuums are still manufactured at the Cooksville plant.

4. Post-it Notes
Parent company: 3M
Headquarters: St. Paul, Minn.

If you bought your Post-it note in the U.S., you can be sure it was made in the U.S. too. The product, invented by 3M employee Art Fry and hitting the market in 1977, has been manufactured in Cynthiana, Ky., since 1985. The company also manufacturers Scotch tape at the plant. Post-it is important to the town, employing roughly 500 residents who work at the plant. The company is green, too. Post-its are manufactured using recycled home and office paper.

5. Weber grills
Parent company: Weber-Stephen Products LLC
Headquarters: Palatine, Ill.

Weber grills have been made in the United States since 1952, when George Stephen built his kettle grill from a buoy at Weber Brothers Metal Works in Mount Prospect, Ill. All but one of latest models are still manufactured in Palatine, Ill. Because the company uses globally-sourced components it has been exposed to a class-action lawsuit over its claims that it was “Made in America.” Still, as of 2011, 98 percent of Weber’s workforce was located in the U.S. According to many grill reviews and grilling enthusiasts, it is the most popular grill of all time.

6. KitchenAid mixer

Parent company: Whirlpool Corp.
Headquarters: Benton Charter Township, Mich.

Appliance maker KitchenAid still makes many of its products in the U.S. — notably, its highly popular mixer is made at a plant in Greenville, Ohio. This is despite large appliance makers having moved manufacturing mostly outside of the U.S. and into emerging markets such as China, India and Latin America. It is important to note that Whirlpool, the makers of KitchenAid, hasn’t exactly shunned the globalization trend. In October, the company announced plans to cut 5,000 jobs, many of those in North America. The cuts include a plant closing in Fort Smith, Ark. Still, the company hasn’t shown any signs of abandoning the manufacturing of the mixer in Ohio anytime soon.

7. Harley-Davidson Motorcycles
Parent company: Harley-Davidson, Inc.
Headquarters: Milwaukee, Wis.

Founded in 1903, Harley-Davidson is an iconic, cult-like American motorcycle company facing stiff foreign competition — think Yamaha and Honda. But the American company actually builds its motorcycles here in the United States. The company has four major factories in the U.S. — two in Wisconsin , one in Missouri and one in Pennsylvania. Many manufacturing executives point to the need to stay competitive when they move work overseas. But Harley-Davidson doesn’t seem to be suffering too much by making its products at home. Shares of the company are up 17 percent over the last year and the company holds about half the market share in the U.S.

8. Sub-Zero refrigerator
Parent company: Sub-Zero, Inc. and Wolf, Inc.
Headquarters: Madison, Wis.

Westye Bakke’s invented the world’s first free-standing freezer in the basement of his home in Madison, Wis., in 1943. Two years later, Bakke founded the Sub-Zero Freezer Company, which has maintained its prominence in the manufacturing of “premium built-in home” refrigerators for over 60 years. The company acquired Wolf, Inc., the world leader in professional cooking equipment, in 2000. Wolf now creates stoves and ovens for the “serious in-home cooks” in addition to appliances for restaurants and hotels. The company employs more than 1,000 Americans in plants in Madison, Wis., Phoenix, Ariz., and Richmond, Ky.

9. Spanx Products
Parent Company: Spanx by Sarah Blakely
Headquarters: Atlanta

Sarah Blakely’s revolutionary line of slimming footless pantyhose and undergarments were invented in 2000 in Atlanta. Most of the products are made in the U.S., according to the Spanx website, but some may be manufactured abroad. The company has a line of about 200 products, employs 125 people and manufactures about 36,000 items everyday. A Spanx representative told 24/7 Wall St. that Spanx’s best-selling “In-Power” hosiery line is still manufactured in the U.S.

10. Duraflame Fire Logs
Parent company: Duraflame Inc.
Headquarters: Stockton, Calif.

In 1968, when California Cedar Products Company was producing pencils, it found it could recycle the sawdust created in the wood manufacturing process by mixing it with petroleum wax to make fire logs. By 1986, Duraflame, Inc. became independently owned and operated, employing 250 Americans in its Stockton corporate office as well as California and Kentucky manufacturing facilities. Duraflame’s revenue exceeded $100 million annually as of 2007, and the company has expanded its production to charcoal, lighters, and more environmentally conscious logs.

Samuel Weigley, Lisa A. Nelson and Alexander E. M. Hess

Chinese investment in battery maker A123 sparks controversy

Steve Hargreaves

@CNNMoney August 9, 2012:

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. battery maker A123 Systems said Wednesday it is receiving up to $450 million from a Chinese firm, the latest controversial foreign investment in an American company in the electric car space.

If completed, the deal would give China's Wanxiang Group （萬向集團）Corporation an 80% percent stake in a company that many held up as America's answer to Asian dominance of the battery market.

The deal is also drawing fire from some lawmakers. A123 has contracts with the Pentagon, and some are leery of such a large foreign presence in a sensitive company.

A123 had a high-flying debut on the U.S. stock market in 2009, but has since struggled as the recession and relatively lower oil prices slowed demand for electric vehicles.

The company's stock, once valued at over $20 a share, has collapsed to around 50 cents.

"Today's announcement is the first step toward solidifying a strategic agreement that we believe would remove the uncertainty regarding A123's financial situation," David Vieau, the company's CEO, said in a statement.

Boston-Power leaving for China

A123 (AONE) sprang out of research labs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2001 and was founded with $100,000 in seed money from the U.S. government.

More recently it received a $250 million federal stimulus grant to open factories in Michigan, which now complement its manufacturing facilities in Asia.

The Michigan factories and jobs do not appear in danger from the Chinese deal. In fact, the deal may end up saving them.

In addition to vehicle batteries, the company also makes energy storage devices for the electric grid and other commercial applications.

It also has over $20 million in contracts with the U.S. military, which could prove a hurdle to getting the deal OK'd by U.S. and Chinese governments, which is required by law.

The military uses electric power in everything from soldiers' gear to weapons systems on vehicles and aircraft. It is increasingly turning to electric power to reduce its dependence on vulnerable oil supply lines.

Already some lawmakers spoke out against the deal.

"Once again it appears the Department of Energy and the Obama Administration have failed to secure sensitive taxpayer funded intellectual property from being transferred to a foreign adversary," Florida Republican Congressman Cliff Stearns said in a statement.

The White House did not directly address Stearns' worry, but said the government money A123 received cannot be used to send U.S. jobs or facilities abroad.

Earlier this year another American battery maker, Ener1, was bought out of bankruptcy by a Russian investor.

Ener1 also held U.S. military contracts and received government grants, and its purchase by a Russian was also criticized by some lawmakers and commentators.

Both Ener1 and A123 are seen as having some of the best American battery technology in a field largely dominated by Asian firms.

With the anticipated growth of electric cars, there's a saying in the industry that United States may trade its dependence on foreign oil for a dependence on Asian batteries.

美國房市有希望復甦嗎？