3 thoughts on “The 1978 GAO Report”

  2. What the policy of the ’70s created was a dual system economy. Previous to the ’70s, the US was virtually using one system and only one system, albeit USC. By the ’80s, the US was using two. Even though the metric system was pretty well hidden from the public, it was used exclusively in multi-megadollar industries. With the increase of imports, imported products were more metric than they weren’t. The biggest noticeable change for the public was automobiles, soda pop bottles, liquor and wine and nutritional/medical products. A number of noted industrial related accidents due to confusion between SI and USC resulted.

    Small ma & pa shops that resisted metrication in the ’70s and hoped a strong resistance would return everything back to the way it was prior to the ’70s also failed. Those that depended on the multi-megadollar companies to purchase their products and services found that they either had to adopt the metric system to secure or maintain the multi-megadollar companies or the multi-megadollar companies would go elsewhere. Most continued to put up a fight, resulting in a relocation of factories to metric countries where the issue did not exist. Ma & pa shops across the country went out of business as a result.

    The present government is trying to repatriate overseas jobs, but with a clear cut anti-metric attitude those few jobs repatriated are being automated so that the companies don’t have to deal with the metric war all over again.

Comments are closed.