ON THIS DAY – AT 11:12 A.M. ET:  This is the 66th anniversary of the end of World War II.  On this day in 1945 the Japanese surrendered.  It wasn't quite the "unconditional surrender" that we had previously demanded, as the terms allowed the emperor to remain, but it was as close to unconditional as we could get.

One of the main factors in the Allied victory in World War II was American production.  We built planes and tanks and ships and trucks in quantities no one could match.  The Nazi submarines sank our ships, we built more ships.  Our planes were shot down, we built more planes.  We took Japanese islands in the pacific, and the Seabees built sprawling air bases on them.  Much of the fleet that was sunk or damaged at Pearl Harbor was refloated, and fought again.

It's sad to look at what has become of manufacturing in America today.  Great names are gone, or have merged to stay afloat.  It's Lockheed-Martin now.  And Northrop-Grumman.  Vought, which built the great Corsairs, is now a division of someone else, as is North American, which built the Mustang. 

As I work on Urgent Agenda this morning, I realize that not one piece of electronic equipment around me was made in America.  Oh yes, my Honda Accord was made in Ohio, but by a Japanese company.

Economies that succeed are economies that make things.  We must find some way to get back to manufacturing in America, to have the finest factories and the best-trained workers.  If Honda can make cars in America – cars with great reputations – we can make almost anything else.  Our economic competitors are not ten feet tall.  We were sure, in the early 80s, that Japan would gobble us up, but Japan is plagued with economic problems today.  And China, which looks like the huge, rich giant, is rushing anti-terrorist squads to parts of its country to put down rebellions.

We did it in World War II.  We can do it again. 

August 14, 2011