🚀 Shaping the Future - Issue 60
US manufacturing FDI in 2023 dropped by a third to $42.9bn, the lowest over ten years of comparable data.
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🧠US manufacturing FDI falls to decade low
The FDI angle
US manufacturing FDI in 2023 dropped by a third to $42.9bn, the lowest over ten years of comparable data.
Manufacturing's share of new FDI expenditure also fell to a decade-low of 28.8%.
Why it matters: The sharp decline in manufacturing FDI highlights the gap between initial project announcements and actual capital expenditure. This trend raises concerns about the effectiveness of recent US industrial policy in driving sustained foreign investment.
📚What we’ve read this week
US manufacturing FDI falls to decade low [FDI Intelligence]
Despite record announcements of foreign direct investment (FDI) in U.S. manufacturing due to incentives like the Inflation Reduction Act and Chips and Science Act, actual capital expenditure commitments by foreign manufacturers in 2023 fell to a decade low of $42.9 billion, reflecting a significant gap between initial investment intentions and tangible investments, with delays in government regulations, economic uncertainties, and practical challenges like construction worker shortages contributing to this decline.
General Electric's 132-year journey from American manufacturing icon to fallen giant [Business Insider]
Over the course of the 20th century, General Electric grew into a powerhouse — literally — of American industry. Founded by Thomas Edison, the company expanded into everything from appliances to broadcasting, jet engines to computing. It became a household name for millions of consumers.
But a series of financial missteps in the early 21st century shook GE to its core, and it announced that it would break up its operations into three separate companies. That process concluded on April 2, 2024, with all three of its separate entities now publicly trading on exchanges.
An optimist’s guide to the EV battery mining challenge [Canary Media]
The electric vehicle transition is going to require a lot of mining and materials — but possibly a lot less than everyone thinks, a new report argues. The EV industry’s approach to minerals will continue to evolve. Any predictions of doom that assume today’s conditions will continue in perpetuity are assuredly wrong. At this point, though, a circular battery economy is by no means guaranteed; if it materializes, it will be through the actions of EV makers, mining companies, and governments hashing it out over the next few decades.
Digital Technologies Are (Finally) Reinventing Machinery [Industrial Machinery Digest]
The machinery industry is undergoing a significant digital transformation, with companies shifting from traditional hardware sales to providing tailored digital solutions that address specific industry needs, a move that is redefining market dynamics and profit models. Leaders in this shift, like John Deere, are focusing on customer-centric digital offerings, outperforming the market by embracing targeted market segments, becoming digitalization partners, and adopting new business models centered around customer unit economics, despite the challenges of transitioning from product-based to service-based revenue models.
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