According to provisional data, 4,315,000 babies were born last year. An annual birth rate of this magnitude has not been seen in America since the middle of the Baby Boom years; in 1957, 4,300,000 live births were recorded.
Gronbach anticipates a resurgence of domestic manufacturing. As he notes, China, our top competitor in this sector, is systematically eliminating its labor force with its one-child policy. Other nations are facing declining birth rates, increased shipping costs, inflation, a weak U.S. dollar, as well as higher energy costs, all of which will make their manufactured products cost more in the U.S. and help bring back domestic manufacturing.
Gronbach also points out that the record number of U.S. births in 2007 is not a freak occurrence, but part of a significant and growing trend toward having bigger families. Generation Y, defined by Gronbach as having been born between 1985-2010, will be 100 million people, 20 million more than the Baby Boom generation. "This will provide a large and savvy workforce, the best the nation has ever seen," says Gronbach. "Our technical schools will be filled with the best and the brightest," Gronbach predicts. "We’re going to have the best electricians, the best athletes, the best cops, and the best volunteer military force."
