Bring It Home Measuring the manufacturing economy w/ Zach Strickland
Oct 30, 2025
Zach Strickland, Director of Freight Market Intelligence at SONAR and host of Freightonomics, dives deep into the state of the American manufacturing economy. He reveals how stagnant industrial production stems from factors like dollar strength and automation. The conversation highlights the tension between consumer demand for cheap goods and domestic production needs. Zach stresses the importance of local manufacturing for national security and discusses the slow, intricate process of reindustrialization and its implications for the economy.
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Manufacturing Output Has Plateaued
- Industrial production in the U.S. has been essentially flat for a decade despite talk of reshoring.
- Strong dollar, automation, and regulation explain why domestic manufacturing share of GDP stagnated.
Dollar Strength Shifts Manufacturing Abroad
- A strong dollar makes U.S.-made goods more expensive abroad and encourages offshoring.
- Currency dynamics plus cheaper foreign labor and laxer regulations reduced U.S. manufacturing's global share.
Flexibility Versus Automation Tradeoff
- Asian factories often maintain manual flexibility to retool quickly while U.S. plants favor rigid automation.
- High U.S. labor costs make flexible, hands-on manufacturing less viable domestically.