'Made in the USA' Still Means Something

This is an informative article by Harold L. Sirkin in Busines Week that gives us the real picture of how American manufacturing fares in today's global economy.

So why is our country, admired worldwide for its optimism, now enveloped in
self-doubt and defeatism? One explanation is politics: Politicians and
interest groups find it much easier to move their agendas forward during
times of angst. Many of them therefore deliberately fuel the public's
anxiety.

The article goes on to further say that

the U.S. leads the world in many high-value fields, producing more
than half of the $175 billion in health care technology products purchased worldwide each year, for example. The U.S. also ranks as the world's largest producer of chemicals, selling 11 percent of the global total. And, as the AP reported, we "sold more than $200 billion worth of aircraft, missiles, and space-related
equipment in 2007."