With federal spending skyrocketing out of control with its pent-up inflationary impact and national economic indicators garnering above-the-fold front page coverage almost daily, Americans' economic anxieties are on the rise and the nation's economic health in grave jeopardy. Only reawakening long-term growth in national productivity can hope to stem government's spending urge.

Yet the Conference Board examines total factor productivity since 1995 in its Total Economy Database (Table 11, page 15). It's discouraging reading: from 1995 until 2005, total factor productivity rose only 0.6% per year and only 0.1% since then. (I could put in the federal spending graph, but that would be too painful in comparison). Clearly, we'll have to do better.

The salt industry, however, HAS been doing better. Measured in terms of tons of salt produced per work-hour, salt industry productivity rose by a third over the period 1994-2009, according to sales and labor employment data collected by the Salt Institute, about 4.5% per year. In 1994, each worker produced 2.16 tons of salt every hour; in 2008, the latest year we have labor data on, the salt industry produced 2.86 tons per work-hour. Salt workers are producing greater value as well. In 1994, each hour worked in the salt industry generated $79.93 (adjust that for inflation, that's $115.71 in 2009 dollars). Today, a salt industry worker generates $161.53 in revenues, up an inflation-reduced 39%.

Salt companies are setting the standard for productivity growth for the American economy.

A couple years ago, we reported the opening of "Chicago's first dining room encased in Black Sea salt ." This idea may have "legs."

Portland, Oregon, is now home to the Salt Grotto , "the first artificial salt cave on the West coast of the United States offering a modern method of health enhancement." We won't endorse all the claimed health benefits, but it sure is nice to see people appreciating the positive heath outcomes associated with salt mines. The spa's website explains what halotherapy is:

Halotherapy ["halos" in Greek means salt] is a drug-free and completely natural way of treatment. It occurs in a controlled air environment that simulates a natural salt cave microclimate. Halotherapy stems from even older "Speleotherapy" ["speleo" means cave] that historically utilized real salt mines as the venue for therapy. Salt mines and their therapeutic properties have been noted since the times of Hippocrates. This method has been widely used all over Europe...

With a high content of sodium chloride, which has anti-allergic and anti-fungal properties, purity of air in the Grotto is ten times higher than outside.

... people suffering from asthma, allergies, dermatologic diseases ( eczema, psoriasis ) or rheumatology diseases notice the significant improvement of their condition.

Yesterday's mail brought an imaginative marketing packet from the Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island (near Jacksonville, FL) keyed to the theme "Salt." The packet extolled the excellence of the featured restaurant, "Salt," complete with a sampling of the restaurant's red salt from Hawaii, gray salt from France, pink "Himalayan" salt and black salt, again from Hawaii. Completing the packet was a copy of Mark Kurlansky's best-seller Salt: A World History, and a chef's apron emblazoned "Salt." I'll wear it with pride for all my backyard BBQ entertaining.

Kudos to Ritz marketers.

Salt sales in 2008 set an all-time record, led by a severe winter and a resulting surge in salt used to preserve safe winter roads. Not so in 2009.

The Salt Institute today released its Statistical Report of U.S. Salt Sales for 2009 which found sales tonnage declining from 34.2 million tons in 2008 to 27.3 million tons in 2009. Of the 6.9 million shrinkage, more than 90% was due to the dramatically lower sales of road salt (5.7 million tons less) and sales to the chemical industry which, like much of the nation's manufacturers, slowed in the recent recession. Sales declined in every major market area including water softening, animal nutrition and human nutrition.

Sales revenues for the industry, however, inched ahead, increasing from $1.937 billion to $1.948 billion.

While salt sales dipped 23% in the fourth quarter due to a late-starting winter season, Compass Minerals reported that operating earnings from salt sales for the quarter barely fell short of the same quarter in 2008, dropping just 2%: $92.5 million compared to $94.2 million in 2008.

Overall in 2009, Compass Minerals' salt sales were just over 12 million tons compared to 15 million in 2008 when the salt industry established a new highway sales record. Sales in 2009 were $826 million compared to $923 in 2008. Operating earnings were up from $192 million to $232 million, increasing from 21% to 28%.

Everyone's talking about jobs. But while flipping burgers may be better than sitting at home collecting unemployment benefits, the foundation for renewed economic growth in the United States isn't creating more government jobs, it's revitalizing manufacturing.

The National Association of Manufacturers recently released a must-read primer on the role of manufacturing,Manufacturing Resurgence A Must for U.S. Prosperity by Joel Popkin and Kathryn Kobe. The report documents that "manufacturing contributes more to U.S. productivity than an other major sector."

I was privileged to address the opening plenary session of the India-International Salt Summit 2010 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, sharing the session with the hosts -- S. Sundaresan, India's Salt Commisioner and leaders of the India Salt Manufacturers Association, President Hiralal Parakh and chairman P.B. Anandam. The featured speaker for the event was Gujarat's Chief Minister (equivalent to a U.S. state governor or Canadian provincial premier) Shri Narenda Modi.

Mr. Sundarsesan called for the 10th International Salt Symposium to be hosted in India in 2016 and predicted India's salt production would double in the next decade. Chief Minister Modi gave an exceptionally enlightened and detailed address advocating measures to support his state's salt industry -- the largest in India (itself, the world's third-largest salt producer).

My opening remarks (pdf 76.91 kB) identified three "global challenges" threatening full enjoyment of salt benefits: environment, safety and mobility, and health outcomes of dietary salt. I called for action by the salt industry to 1) stay informed about policy and technical developments, 2) remain a credible participant in the public policy debate by "speaking the truth," and 3) align salt industry advocacy with the public interest. "We must have a laser-like focus on performance, on outcomes, on actual operations of the systems that use salt."

An international audience of about 400 attended the three day conclave. Included were representatives from Tata Chemicals (India), Hub-Pak (Pakistan), China National Salt Industry Corporation (China) and Industria Salinera de Yucatan (Mexico). Here I am visiting with Ismail Suttar, CEO of Hub-Pak.

Artists are fascinated by salt and history. German photographer Fred Lange wrote today calling attention to his website with 50 large format photos related to salt .

Snowfighters belie the adage that everyone talks about the weather but no one does anything about it. Well, Salt Institute member Compass Minerals is providing a new online winter severity tracking service in support of those who are "doing something about it (winter storm events). See the company's Snow Events page to learn about the severity of winters impacting North American roadways.

The company promises to update the report quarterly. It defines a snow event as one where more than one inch falls in any 24 hour period in one of 11 large cities.

For comparison, the last decade these eleven cities averaged 48.5 snow events during the Fourth Quarters 1999-2008, but the annual fluctuation provides insight into the marketplace, ranging from 20 events in 2006 to 80 in 2008. Here are the numbers:

• 2009 42 snow events
• 2008 80
• 2007 56
• 2006 20
• 2005 68

The new SI Report (html 43.56 kB) (html 48.85 kB) , January 2010, has been published and features stories on a FHWA report on performance measurement, the hazards of "politically-correct" weather forecasting and third quarter industry safety statistics. Read it now (html 43.56 kB) .

Stories this month (html 48.91 kB) include a consensus that salt iodization does not interfere with attempts to reduce population salt intakes, the relevance of "climategate" to the salt and health debate, how New York City is risking its greatest culinary achievement and severe economic loss in China due to poor winter road maintenance.

Spy thriller fans have been seeking alternative heroes since Tom Clancy stopped writing about his CIA champion Jack Ryan.

But the CIA will be getting an entirely new face next summer --Angelina Jolie. Jolie's new move, Salt, centers around the efforts by her character (Evelyn A. Salt) to clear her name as a rogue CIA operative. Hollywood can be so incestuous. The role in the original screenplay was written for Tom Cruise, but he dropped out. Cruise, moviegoers will remember, starred in another thriller (plus sequels), Mission Impossible, sharing a leading role with Jolie's father, Jon Voight.

Salt suffuses our culture. Who would have pictured the Salt Queen being dethroned by Angelina Jolie? So, salt fans, get used to the new "face" for salt -- here's the poster promoting the movie and the YouTube posting of the movie "teaser" trailer .

This graph may be even better than the Marshall Foch quote in explaining Tuesday's election results. It's from today's Casey's Daily Dispatch . CBO is the Congressional Budget Office.

The image. The analogy. Perfect. Enjoy this blog, "Pelosi as Foch " by John Feehery featured in The Hill today. Another way to put it: the best defense is a good offense (if you can mount a good offense!).