Yet another reason to be optimistic on the USA

Not only we are becoming more competitive (thanks to cheap natural gas, rising labor productivity and increasing labor costs abroad)...

Here is a more compelling reason. We are the most competitive in beer!

According to the Economist chart of the day it takes an american worker about 6 minutes of labor to get a beer...

We should be done for the day in about an hour!!!  Life in India or the Philippines pales in contrast..

Seriously now... The low cost advantage of China is fading.

The prestigious BCG (Boston Consulting Group) projects that by around 2015, the U.S. will have an export cost advantage of 5 percent to 25 percent over Germany, Italy, France, the U.K. and Japan in a range of industries. Among the biggest drivers of this advantage will be the costs of labor, natural gas, and electricity. As a result, the U.S. could capture 2 percent to 4 percent of exports from the four European countries and 3 percent to 7 percent from Japan by the end of the current decade. This would translate into as much as $90bn in additional U.S. exports per year, according to BCG's analysis.

Look at this video from Hal Sirkin at the Boston Consulting Group.