Bob Lutz, former vice chairman of General Motors has a new book out-Car Guys vs Bean Counters: The Battle for the Soul of American Business. Lutz believes there is a great opportunity for the United States to regain is leadership as the world’s top manufacturer and exporter. The formula is easy, according to Lutz- America needs to get back to the basics of creating things of value

There is a dawning awakening on the part of most Americans that we cannot maintain the wealth of the nation by being bond traders and lawyers. At some point the country has to get back to work and create wealth through mining, agriculture or manufacturing. There’s a renewed emphasis on being more than competitive with the Japanese and the Germans, especially when it comes to the auto industry. Right now with the dollar where it is and American wage rates where they are, there is no excuse not to manufacture in the United States.

Of course, this needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Lutz was responsible for much of the problems that faced GM and other American carmakers, namely absurd labor costs, pensions, and obsolete manufacturing processes.

Let's hope the famed astronaut ice cream sold at the Smithsonian isn't made in China too!

Not surprisingly, it was learned by an Associated Press reporter this week that most of the cheap trinkets on the shelves of the gift shop of the Smithsonian are made in China…Well, duh, there is a reason why that George Washington bobblehead breaks the minute his head shakes twice.

To help alleviate the problem Rep. Nick J. Rahall II, D-W.Va.  has introduced a bill that would require all items sold in any of the Smithsonian’s 30 stores, located in 19 museums and galleries and its zoo, to be made in the United States. If the Smithsonian were to violate the terms of the legislation, it would lose its federal funding.

According to the Associated Press article, a Smithsonian spokeswoman said the average gift shop visitor buys two items and spends $20. If these items were to be made in America the cost would be about twice as much, making them too costly for most visitors and hurting the museum’s profit margins. Last year, the museum gift shop at the Smithsonian made an astounding $9 Million.

We believe that Representative Rahall is well intentioned but is barking up the wrong tree. We do not want to produce cheap trinkets and tchochkes in America. What we need to do is create the high paying jobs of tomorrow that will keep the country thriving, not jobs producing goods that belong in an episode of NBC’s Outsourced, that pay minimum wage. Keep the plastic Teddy Roosevelt keychain manufacturing in China, and lets create some companies that TR would be truly proud of here at home.