MAPI — Manufacturers Alliance News and Reports — Quarterly Growth Forecast and More

Issues in the Brief

U.S. Supreme Court Decision Limits ERISA Plans’ Subrogation Rights
In a decision that adopts the minority position of two courts of appeals out of a total of eight that have ruled on the issue, the Supreme Court held that ERISA health benefit plans may not seek reimbursement from third-party settlements plan participants receive when the participant has spent the funds on non-traceable items. While the case in question concerned a health benefit plan, the implications for other types of ERISA plans, including pension and disability plans, are unclear.

Europe Shows Signs of Desperation
The European Central Bank is making another attempt at stability through dramatic measures. Europe’s falling prices, currency, punitive rates on bank profits and convoluted politics all complicate the effects of policy making. Recent data on industrial production and GDP have been promising, however.

MAPI Law Week: Dive Deep on IP, Trade Compliance and Employment Law
Join attorneys, HR executives with employment law responsibility and trade specialists from companies such as Rolls-Royce, MSA, Textron, JBT and IDEX to share best practices and engage in roundtable discussion on front-burner issues. Our Law Week forums on intellectual property, trade compliance and employment law will explore design patent case studies, US-EU data transfer, liability regarding temporary employees, export control violations and many more practical subjects.

Economic Update

U.S. Industrial Outlook: Manufacturing Production Growth Is Disappointingly Slow
We lower the forecast for this year and next because of the persistent shocks to manufacturing demand; we now see more downside than upside risks. Manufacturing production will decelerate rather than accelerate this year. Production increased 2% last year and we forecast growth of 1.1% in 2016, 2.4% in 2017 and 2.5% in 2018.

Time to Restore a Balanced, Rules-Based Multilateral Trading System
The rules-based multilateral trade and financial system created at Bretton Woods in 1944 has been crumbling over the past decade. The WTO trading system to reduce trade barriers on a reciprocal, most-favored-nation basis has been replaced by a spreading network of bilateral and regional preferential trade agreements.

The Manufacturing Value Chain Is Much Bigger Than You Think!
Manufactured goods are ubiquitous at home, in transit, and at work, but the narrow definition of manufacturing industries in national statistics implies that the sector is of only minor importance to economic activity.

Productivity Dynamics in U.S. Manufacturing
Productivity growth in the computer and electronic products subsector, once the principal driver of productivity performance in the manufacturing sector, has experienced significant waning in recent years. Consequently, the U.S. manufacturing productivity outlook has become murky.

Quarterly Forecast for U.S. Economic and Manufacturing Growth
Slides from Chief Economist Dan Meckstroth’s discussion of the overall outlook for the U.S. economy, with particular emphasis on the manufacturing sector, for 2016 and 2017.