But the key point seems to be that *even with* this "revolution in manufacturing" (and is it really a revolution? as systematic rationalization and mechanization of the work process is as normal as capitalism gets) the biggest and quickest profits in many industries were in financial operations, with pre-crash GM a standard example. (Maybe it's still the case for GM now, I just don't know.)
On Tue, Aug 9, 2011 at 5:41 AM, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
>
> On Aug 9, 2011, at 8:53 AM, Chuck Grimes wrote:
>
>>> If retailers issue their own credit cards, they're capturing profits that used to go to their bankers. And they've been doing that for a long time.
>>>
>>> Doug
>>
>> Sure, but the main point was that manufacturing giants can shift billions from the making-something division low profit to the finance division higher profit...
>
> As Sam Gindin always points out, this sort of analysis misses the revolution in manufacturing over the last 20-30 years. Since Sam spent many years with the Canadian Autoworkers Union, he knows the industry well, and says that the mechanization and speedup of carmaking has been profound. It's not just about slinging derivatives around.
>
> Doug
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