A nation of cobblers
ABC’s Jon Karl asked Trump’s Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick a question:
The president also said there’s going to be a transition cost, transition problems. I mean we are going to see higher prices in America. It’s not like you can open a factory tomorrow to build iPhones or to – to make sneakers, shoes. I mean we – we – we buy a lot of shoes in this country, 99 percent of them are made elsewhere. I mean do you – are we going to become a nation of cobblers again? I mean what – this is going to mean higher prices, isn’t it?
“Cobblers” – love that word. It conjures up visions of Hans Christian Andersen’s father – at least for me. But ask any New Englander over fifty or sixty years old about the shoe industry and what its American demise meant to New England, and you’ll get an answer, and probably no one will use the word “cobblers.” Here’s a 2023 article on attempts to bring shoe manufacturing back to New England, with a little bit of history.
For me the phrase “a nation of cobblers” also conjured up the famous saying “nation of shopkeepers” supposedly uttered by Napoleon and referring to England:
There is reason to doubt that Napoleon ever used the phrase. No contemporaneous French newspaper mentions that he did. The phrase was first used in a derogatory sense by French revolutionary Bertrand Barère on 11 June 1794 in a speech to the National Convention: “Let Pitt then boast of his victory to his nation of shopkeepers”. Barère was referring to the British victory over the French at the Glorious First of June. Later, during the Napoleonic wars, the British press mentioned the phrase, attributing it either to “the French” or to Napoleon himself. …
After the war English newspapers sometimes tried to correct the impression. For example the following article appeared in the Morning Post of 28 May 1832:
“ENGLAND A NATION OF SHOPKEEPERS This complimentary term, for so we must consider it, as applied to a Nation which has derived its principal prosperity from its commercial greatness, has been erroneously attributed, from time to time, to all the leading Revolutionists of France. To our astonishment we now find it applied exclusively to BONAPARTE. Than this nothing can be further from the fact. NAPOLEON was scarcely known at the time, he being merely an Officer of inferior rank, totally unconnected with politics. The occasion on which that splenetic, but at the same time, complimentary observation was made was that of the ever-memorable battle of the 1st of June. The oration delivered on that occasion was by M. BARRERE [sic], in which, after describing our beautiful country as one “on which the sun scarce designs to shed its light”, he described England as a nation of shopkeepers.”
A short while ago I posted a video that contains a good description of Trump’s actual plans and hopes for new industry in the US as a result of his policies. You may have already watched it, but if not here it is again (I doubt Jon Karl is especially interested; he’d rather talk about “cobblers”):
IMO, every dollar we save, as a nation, by buying cheap goods from communist slave-worker countries (even the ones that work reasonably well) is spent nationally on welfare and law enforcement and lost opportunities for citizens entering the work-force, or trying to.
Whenever some “economist” claims that the country is getting wealthier, the total wealth includes the massively rich and the massively poor.
The average does not come out to being a “healthy middle class” society.
“cobblers”…Grok, tell me about the status of automation in apparel manufacturing
https://x.com/i/grok/share/rtioy07kSaIzQMRVrLW9799C1
Note especially:
“3D knitting and weaving machines are another game-changer. Brands like Adidas and Nike have been using these for years to create seamless garments, reducing waste and labor costs. By now, smaller manufacturers are getting in on the action as the tech becomes more affordable. These machines can produce a complete garment from digital designs in hours, bypassing traditional cutting and sewing steps. This is especially big in “on-demand” fashion, where companies produce only what’s ordered, cutting down on overproduction.”
@Aesop Fan:Whenever some “economist” claims that the country is getting wealthier, the total wealth includes the massively rich and the massively poor.
The average does not come out to being a “healthy middle class” society.
By any metric not driven by envy, this nation has objectively been getting wealthier. There are people at the top getting wealthier faster, sure–but to say the rest of us are made poorer because a few gained more is fundamentally envy.
Poor people in the US live like middle-class Americans in the 1950s. And even poor people have access to wonders undreamed of in the 1950s.
“Middle class” has a lot of associated connotations, and I don’t know what private meanings folks have for that, so it would be challenging to point to something quantitative as evidence of a “healthy middle class” without unpacking it. But “healthy middle class” or not, whatever is meant by that, this country has been getting richer at all levels of income.
I’m not saying we live in a utopia. I’m not saying nothing negative has happened. I’m saying that we as a country got objectively richer, and have been doing so for a long time.
cobblers, continue…Grok, please describe the production process in a typical shoe factory, automated to the state of the art but not beyond it
https://x.com/i/grok/share/F4sUcomSYpbnwFYYy3Gw0OyMO
(added to the end of the response to previous link)
How many of those who opine on the ‘hopelessness’ of increased US manufacturing have any real idea about what goes on in a factory…of any kind..or of the possibilities for labor productivity improvement over the next few years?
I mean do you – are we going to become a nation of cobblers again?
This is an indictment of the quality of American journalists, people so ignorant they think modern mass-market shoes are made by “cobblers”. Cobblers of course exist, but in the West they would make only very high-end shoes.
@David Foster:How many of those who opine on the ‘hopelessness’ of increased US manufacturing have any real idea about what goes on in a factory…of any kind.. or of the possibilities for labor productivity improvement over the next few years?
That has been the story of US manufacturing this whole time and I am gobsmacked by the tariff advocates who continue to say that American manufacturing has declined since the supposed heyday of the 1950s. We manufacture more than ever before, with ever fewer people needed, thanks to enormous gains in productivity. We don’t need tariffs to manufacture more.
People who don’t click links, US industrial output today is 7-8 times higher than in 1950. (Been pretty flat since 2008 though–pretty sure Obama-era regulations have a lot to do with that…)
Just like our agriculture is more productive than ever before even though so few of us farm. 40% of us were farmers in 1900 and now it’s less than 2%.
Wow, who knew that a middling successful real estate developer could plan the national economy better than the decisions of millions of consumers and producers? I bet all those libertarians feel pretty stupid now that they see the brilliance of the new economic program.
I work in construction, mostly commercial space. But lots of places are expanding businesses, some first time. Making anything here just takes skilled people and investments.
It is darkly amusing to learn Jon Karl and ABC News think of shoe manufacturing as a little old man bent over a cobbler’s bench.
The word “snob” formerly meant “cobbler.”
[Earlier snob, cobbler, lower-class person, one who aspires to social prominence.]
https://www.thefreedictionary.com/snob
I’ve always been partial to the quality and fit of Made in Ireland Clarks Shoes. Even gifted a pair or two.
The “cobblers” or “nation of shopkeepers” is intended as a not-so-subtle putdown of small business owners by the credentialed class. It reminds me of Hillary Clinton back in 1993, when asked about the effects of her health care plan on small business. “I can’t go our and save every undercapitalized entrepreneur” she sneered,” a strange comment indeed from a woman whose own father was a small businessman. I might add, a small businessman who was prosperous enough that he was able to send her to a not-too-shabby northeastern private women’s college.
Wife is looking at machines for embroidering her art on t-shirts for a manufacture-on-demand concept.
On the hand, we decided not to market her iPhone app because between Apple and the state each taking a big fat cut, I wasn’t worth her time.
Try to find a shoe repair shop.
Niketas…US industrial output today is about 3X that of 1950, in inflation-adjusted terms. If you look at value-added rather than output, it’s about 3.7X, again in inflation adjusted terms.
But it should be a lot higher, from the standpoint of national defense and resilience against natural disasters, as well as expanded employment opportunities and technological advancement. There are a lot of things we need to do to drive this–education and tax policy changes among them…but I do believe that either tariffs or some form of domestic production tax benefit, or both, need to be in the mix.
Hmmm….
Related?
“UAW Boss Sides With Trump On Tariffs, Stuns MSNBC Panel”—
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/uaw-boss-sides-trump-tariffs-stuns-msnbc-panel
If she hadn’t drunk the Kool-Aid so deeply, neo could learn a lot from a real economist. https://www.grumpy-economist.com/p/tariffs-saving-and-investment?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=2178684&post_id=161247906&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=3o9&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
He’s advocating unilateral free trade. No.
a strange comment indeed from a woman whose own father was a small businessman.
==
Not a strange comment. Hellary was always cavalier about people. See her treatment of Billy R. Dale (assisted by the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s office).
Sad that Karl, who speaks on TV for a living, can’t begin a sentence without “I mean.”
Someone has to pay for all the overhead of import-export. Customs inspectors aren’t free. Management of export of dual use and or military items is also not free.
He usually doesnt know what he means
But its cnn although msnbc is as bad whichever hack they pick does it matter
@ Shirehome – searching today in my area
Colfax Boot & Shoe Repair, Lakewood CO
(wide range of reviews, but apparently still open)
Mucilli’s 1825 Youngfield St, Unit C, Golden, CO 80401
(also did custom orthopedic inserts about 12 years ago, but I haven’t been back)
Generic store name “Shoe Repair” next to defunct Big Lots in Wheat Ridge at 43rd and Wadsworth -picture
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Big+Lots/@39.77377,-105.0802172,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1sCIHM0ogKEICAgICk8Jab2QE!2e10!3e12!6shttps:%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2Fgps-cs-s%2FAB5caB_M7ceDedRknJBHBuNlRdXeOYBiAxSfeGZ1p7r4QPbT9GcEUO5MLpRgyZmwll71pRzrPb9jd02higc-6mVFNKpg3gNkYVC2dFGqTSmrJlq5InY9JlqkoWFbdubl_FoUXiScI9nVeA%3Dw203-h114-k-no!7i2688!8i1520!4m7!3m6!1s0x876b8652f2ac6579:0x7cc26f2a96185daf!8m2!3d39.77377!4d-105.0802172!10e5!16s%2Fg%2F1thf90zh?authuser=0&entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDQwOS4wIKXMDSoJLDEwMjExNDU1SAFQAw%3D%3D
There used to be a number of terrific shoe and boot manufacturers in the US, in particular in the northeastern US. Danner, Frye, Bass, etc. Now very few left, and many of the US brands – like Red Wings – make them overseas then import them. Sad.
Y81:
If you choose to be rude and boorish to our hostess, well FOAD, and the horse you rode in on.
AesopFan, we use to have a very good one in Longmont. But they retired. One still in Longmont, but not the best. One in Loveland. I am in the middle. My point though was, there use to be more (OK, I am dating myself – everything used to be better).
y81:
You clearly haven’t read my many posts on Trump’s tariffs.
Or, if you’ve read them, you haven’t understood them.
Lastly, you can get “real economists” to disagree on just about everything, including the present situation.
Cobblers! Has a very different meaning in the UK but doesn’t apply here as there is a lot in what you say. Even famous UK brands like Dr Marten’s, which I totally recommend are now made in Cambodia, Vietnam etc. you can get ones made in the UK but they cost around 25-50% more. However they are better quality. A lot of this is because the offshore ones are automated and traditional method are still used in Northamptonshire where the remaining English production is based.
But it will not return to the UK soon because…
1. Apprenticeships and technical education in this area are long gone. One of the dafter things Thatcher did in the eighties was shut down many of the training boards that oversaw our once excellent vocational education system. Yes it saved a lot of money but the cost is now seen in many areas. Try finding a competent plumber in a rush. I’m no fan of the state but one thing it is good for is education. Pity it has pushed university so much. I used to work in Germany and was stunned by their technical education. I wonder if it remains as good.
2. Even with tariffs and shipping the offshored stuff is cheaper and it seems the UK prices are kept artificially low as a prestige thing. No shoe manufacturer and shoe shop can compete with Amazon funnelling cheap goods from abroad. Amazon is the Japanese knotweed of commerce but it won’t be going anywhere soon. Unfortunately. Its monopolistic tendencies are a big part of this issue.
3. All the supporting industries, tanneries, eyelet makers, lace manufacturers etc are gone. All this would be imported.
4. Consumer culture is for fast fashion at the lowest possible price. People are buying a lot of shoes and binning them before they are even worn out. As for repairing… they just don’t.
5. There is very low unemployment around here and I doubt many would trade their jobs for factory work. I worked in factory based manufacturing many years ago and while I learned a lot I wouldn’t have fancied spending a life on those lines. This is the calculation the young make today. Boring work for low wages…… who is going to do that? Well historically around here immigrant labour often did.
So given all this I am amazed any cobblers remain anywhere. However on our local high street is an old school cobblers who will reheel and resole shoes at a ridiculously low price. You can get keys cut, buy laces, polish cloths etc. he has kept my dog walking boots going for years 🙂
But I will ask him where all his products are sourced. Given the prices I think I can guess.
I imagine this is similar in the US but with different companies – except Amazon of course
Cobbler ? Cordwainer
I prefer peach cobbler.
So, we’ve just learned that David Clayton does not think precisely or dynamically.
Art Deco:
That’s what you get with offshore trolls; high quantity but low quality?
I don’t the “cobblers” remark displayed any ignorance, it was hyperbole meant to frighten viewers. He was intonating that without Chinese goods, the country will fall into ruin, and to get basic necessities like shoes to wear, we will be literally reliant on “old men hunched over workbenches”.
Yeah fall into ruin because people would rather starve than work especially anyone not old and male.
Those arguing that US manufacturing has increased, so no worry about loss of manufacturing jobs in the last 20 years are ignoring the main point.
The loss of manufacturing jobs in the U.S. increased significantly after China was granted permanent MFN status (PNTR) in 2000 and joined the WTO in 2001. From 1990-2000, manufacturing jobs declined by about 400,000 (40,000/year), but from 2000-2010, losses surged to 5.8 million (580,000/year), with 1-2.8 million directly attributed to Chinese import competition. The “China Shock” post-PNTR/WTO accelerated this trend by enabling a flood of low-cost imports and offshoring, though automation and the Great Recession also contributed.
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