Light Bulb Factory Closes; End of Era for US Means More Jobs Overseas

The original light bulb has a long history with many nations and patents – starting with an English chemist in 1809 and perfected over the years by Scottish, German, American and Russian scientists – before Thomas Edison purchased some patents and devised the long-lasting filaments in 1879 and 1880. His name is associated forever with light bulbs. The last major GE factory making traditional incandescent light bulbs closes in Virginia this month. As governments increasingly pursue green technology, the energy guzzler bulbs, which produce more heat than light, are steadily replaced by compact-fluorescents. In 2007, the US followed Europe’s footsteps with conservation measures that essentially ban incandescents by 2014. US engineers invented fluorescents, the intricate spirals requiring much hand labor, in the 1970s. By the 1990s, a Chinese immigrant to the US was ready to manufacture the labor-intensive product – a project feasible only in low-wage China. Consumer love for bargains ensures that upstart manufacturing nations snatch work away from high-wage inventing nations. – YaleGlobal