korrents

What Austin Vernon thinks about America

@austin-vernon · 42 positions · 0 changes of mind

Engineer and investor who writes quantitative posts about how physical industries actually work — chemical plants, geothermal drilling, shipyards, thermal storage and the economics of low-volume manufacturing — at austinvernon.site.

Austin Vernon did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

9 dated positions, 2024 to 2026, in their own words. Our reading of what Austin Vernon has said — not written or endorsed by them.

  1. Our readingReviving American manufacturing needs a better business model rather than a planned economy.

    Their wordsReviving manufacturing doesn't require a planned economy, just a better business model.

    ↗Speed Can Reindustrialize Americaaustinvernon.site 1st of 15 in this piece

    Interesting

  3. Our readingThe United States is good at high-volume manufacturing and bad at low-volume manufacturing, and that is what its industrial weakness actually consists of.

    Their wordsThe US excels at high-volume manufacturing, but not low-volume manufacturing.

    ↗Speed Can Reindustrialize Americaaustinvernon.site 2nd of 15 in this piece

    Interesting

  5. Our readingWhat makes low-volume American manufacturing uncompetitive is white-collar overhead and lead time, not the wage of the person running the machine.

    Their wordsLong lead times and soft costs, fueled by the world-leading US wages for "white collar" work, are the root cause of poor performance in low-volume production because there are few units to spread the soft costs over.

    ↗Speed Can Reindustrialize Americaaustinvernon.site 3rd of 15 in this piece

    AI and jobs

    Interesting

  7. Our readingChina installs more robots than America because it has a surplus of underemployed engineers, not because robots are self-evidently the right answer.

    Their wordsIt has a surplus of STEM graduates that are often underemployed, while "Hukou" residency restrictions complicate hiring hourly labor in coastal factories.

    ↗Speed Can Reindustrialize Americaaustinvernon.site 5th of 15 in this piece

    Chinahiringrobotics

    Interesting

  9. Our readingAmerica cannot simply copy China's manufacturing methods, because which technology is correct depends on the local price of labour.

    Their wordsSecond, technologies and market structure are contextual, where the US can't simply emulate China's manufacturing.

    ↗Speed Can Reindustrialize Americaaustinvernon.site 6th of 15 in this piece

    China

    Interesting

  11. Our readingIndustrial robots are not the fix for American manufacturing, and betting on automation misreads why production sits elsewhere.

    Their wordsThe robot arm base case saves some hourly labor at the expense of adding more skilled labor, and can easily be negative if it needs reprogramming more than a few times per year.

    ↗Speed Can Reindustrialize Americaaustinvernon.site 8th of 15 in this piece

    robotics

    Interesting

  13. Our readingTariffs on imported components and machinery hurt the American manufacturers they are supposed to help.

    Their wordsThese end manufacturers (new and old) are vulnerable to tariffs on their inputs and they are the buyers that the "speed strategy" is relevant for.

    ↗Speed Can Reindustrialize Americaaustinvernon.site 9th of 15 in this piece

    tariffs

    Interesting

  15. Our readingThe scarce input in American manufacturing is high-end technical talent, and industrial policy consumes it rather than creating it.

    Their wordsIndustrial policy almost inevitably consumes more skilled labor and reduces what we can produce.

    ↗Speed Can Reindustrialize Americaaustinvernon.site 14th of 15 in this piece

    Interesting
  16. 2 years earlier

  17. Our readingAmerican shipyards are unproductive rather than expensive: their workers are paid about what Korean and Japanese shipyard workers are paid.

    Their wordsLabor costs are not an excuse!

    ↗Revitalizing US Navy Shipbuildingaustinvernon.site 1st of 4 in this piece

    Japan

    Interesting