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A lot of people are interested in buying guitars these days, and it's no surprise seeing how the popularity of this versatile instrument continues to skyrocket.

Thirty years ago, GE, like many U.S. companies, began moving some of its manufacturing overseas (appliances in GE's case). Earlier this year, GE reversed course and started manufacturing a new hybrid hot water heater and refrigerator in Louisville, Kentucky. Over the next few years GE will invest over $1 billion to start manufacturing 11 new products in Louisville, bringing 1,300 jobs back to the U.S. from Mexico and South Korea. And GE is not alone. Ford, Dow Chemical, NCR, Whirlpool, Master Lock and Stanley Furniture are just a few examples of companies that are bringing manufacturing back to the U.S.

A decade ago, the lure for companies to move some of their manufacturing to many emerging market countries such as China was strong. For example with China, their low wages, their currency peg to the dollar, cheap land prices, and generous government incentives provided compelling reasons for American companies to move manufacturing to China. Today, many of those reasons have diminished. Chinese wages grew almost 20% per year in recent years and are expected to continue growing rapidly. China's rapid wage increases have reduced its labor cost advantage. Additionally, China's currency has steadily appreciated versus the dollar (although not enough by some accounts). Land prices to build factories in China have also increased dramatically and in some cities are now more expensive than similar land in parts of the U.S. Many of the once generous incentives China offered have been phased out.
The story is similar for other emerging countries as well. In short, many of the factors that drew American companies to move their production to China and other countries are not nearly as compelling anymore.

American companies have also experienced additional challenges and difficulties from outsourcing their manufacturing overseas. Rising shipping costs have offset some of the savings from cheaper labor. Long supply chains have increased the risk of supply disruption, as companies found out following the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. Companies have also experienced problems with intellectual property theft in some foreign countries. In some cases, foreign companies that once manufactured products for a U.S. company now compete against that company with a similar product. Product quality has also been an issue in some cases. visit here for more information..

At the same time, the U.S. has become more competitive. One big reason is cheap energy. The shale natural gas boom has resulted in an abundance of natural gas that has sent natural gas prices to some of their lowest levels in 10 years. Wholesale electricity prices have also benefited from low natural gas prices and have plummeted roughly 50% since 2008 as well. Natural gas prices in the U.S. are now a fraction of the price in other parts of the world. This is a huge competitive advantage for energy intensive manufacturers such as chemical companies. Many chemical companies such as Dow Chemical are moving plants back to the U.S. to take advantage of the new abundant source of natural gas and the extraordinarily low prices. In January, Methanex Corp. decided to move its plant from Chile to Louisiana. Low energy prices were one reason Santana Textiles decided to build their $180 million plant in Texas rather than Mexico.