BIC Alliance President & COO Thomas Brinkso
The U.S. is experiencing a manufacturing renaissance resulting from a surge in domestic oil and natural gas production.
The strength of this energy revolution is seen in API's latest monthly statistical report, with U.S. crude oil exports setting a new monthly record at 3.3 million barrels per day (mb/d), which represents growth of 1.1 mb/d over last year's data. Moreover, U.S. petroleum net imports fell to 1.3 mb/d from 2.9 mb/d. Combining oil and gas, the U.S. is now a net exporter of petroleum products, able to meet domestic demand and help satisfy needs around the world.
Because of this miracle, the American Chemistry Council reports 334 chemical projects cumulatively valued at $204 billion have been announced, with 53 percent of the investment completed or underway and 40 percent in the planning phase. Further gains in capital spending are anticipated, increasing by 5.4 percent this year and 4.9 percent in 2020. Capital spending will reach $43 billion by 2024.
The industry is now emphasizing infrastructure to enable moving product to market. The global gains of the U.S. refining and petrochemical industries cannot be maintained unless our infrastructure keeps pace. Investment in critical infrastructure, including pipelines, rail, inland waterways and ports, is key to maintaining momentum. This challenge will be met by our free economic system.
The unique opportunities presented by the manufacturing renaissance are the result of innovations in technology and the U.S. energy sector, and these opportunities have and will continue to create quality jobs and strengthen U.S. energy and national security. However, we must be vigilant never to forget what has always made this country great: the American spirit, entrepreneurism, self-reliance and economic freedom that grew our capitalist society to its greatest heights.
Capitalism is the premier economic system because it provides limitless opportunity and encourages innovation, like the innovation that has turned our energy and petrochemical markets 180 degrees in a short decade.
Investigative reporter John Stossel recently looked at the issue of why Africa remains poor despite having immense natural resources. Many traditional explanations include mismanagement of land, misused money, disease, lack of food, poor infrastructure, etc. Stossel concluded Africa's problem today is anti-capitalism bias. He asked an African entrepreneur he interviewed, "Why is it that a couple decades ago, China was at the same level as most African countries? Countries like Singapore made it. What happened there?" The entrepreneur said places with economic booms understood they wouldn't create prosperity unless they made it easy for businesses to operate. She rightly pointed out if one has a job, then malnutrition and other problems disappear.
Studies uniformly show economic freedom is strongly correlated with better health, more educational options and a cleaner environment. But there is a danger of the bias endemic in other systems being incorporated slowly into ours. I fear it could be like the frog slowly boiled in a pot. Enact the change slow enough, and the fatal danger may not be detected.
While capitalists have the right answers, we need to do a better job of communicating them. We must let economic freedom ring.
While BIC Alliance, as a company, has always and will continue to ring this bell, BIC is also proud to support and be members of pro-capitalism groups like AFPM, TCC, API and others. Listen to the executives of these organizations, and they will uniformly tell you that among the greatest challenges they face are regulatory setbacks -- new laws and regulations that are restrictive to capitalism and decision making.
These associations provide a strong voice in Washington and state capitals and advocate for our industry. They work with companies like mine and yours, identifying legislation and proposed regulations that impact industry and educating key decision makers on relevant policy matters.
I'm not against regulation. We need regulations whose benefits exceed their costs and that protect public health, safety and the environment -- without sacrificing domestic jobs, national energy security or our nation's competitiveness in the global marketplace.
In truth, capitalism has done more to lift the world out of poverty than any other economic system ever devised. Over the past 25 years, the global poverty rate has been cut by two-thirds, primarily in countries with policies that promote economic freedom.
In addition to taking the message to our lawmakers and regulators, we need to carry the messages of our industry and economic system to our families and neighbors. TCC, for instance, hosts an annual science teachers institute. Workforce development groups from industry are taking the message of prosperous middle-skills careers into the general population. AFPM has a program called EMpower that provides great resources to help industry employees tell their stories.
Industry's efforts to "take back" public perception come none too soon, as a recent Gallup poll found four in 10 Americans embrace some form of socialism. Politicians once ran from the term; now more embrace it. And polls show younger people are favoring it.
This is due in large part, I believe, to the fact that Americans' definition of socialism has changed over the years, with nearly one in four now associating socialism with social equality and 17 percent associating it with the more classical definition of having some degree of government control over the means of production.
As Benjamin Franklin departed the Constitutional Convention, he was asked what kind of government the framers had created. He famously replied, "A republic, if you can keep it."
Make no mistake: While social equality is a worthy ideal, socialism is a form of government that hasn't worked anywhere in history; it has not resulted in social equality and does not facilitate economic freedoms that have made our nation the envy of the world. I hope the water isn't getting warmer too slowly.
Blessings,
Thomas Brinsko
