How to compete globally

Manufacturers were also concerned with global competition, according to that same November issue. "We cannot have a standard of living in America higher than our ability to outproduce other countries," commented Edwin Smith, president of Seneca Falls Machine Co. "With our higher wage rates and higher costs generally, we can compete in world markets only by producing much faster that the price differential created by their lower standard of living is equalized or surpassed."

Smith also suggested that companies import some parts — even entire machine tools — rather than making them in the U.S. "We are entering a period in which cost is the major criterion, not availability, and costs are currently lower on some parts if we bring them in," he concluded.