President Obama’s Upcoming “Section 421 Tire Case” Trade Enforcement Decision

August 28, 2009

When China was accepted into the World Trade Organization, they agreed that if we experienced import surges of Chinese goods that caused “market disruption,” we would be allowed to limit […]

The Bonuses and the Damage They Do

August 26, 2009

This is a story we are all too familiar with: Wall Street vs. Main Street. Irresponsible behavior leads to bonuses for Wall Street while working hard and playing by the […]

National Association of Manufacturers Blasts … American Manufacturing?

August 19, 2009

Last week Harold Meyerson wrote a great column in the Washington Post, Just One Word: Factories, promoting American manufacturing. Meyerson wrote, “Since 1987, manufacturing as a share of our gross […]

China Is Being Smart On Trade. Will We?

August 18, 2009

Trade is not complicated. Trade is just an exchange of goods. You trade something for something. I buy something from you, and in exchange you buy something from me. It […]

Health Care Decision: Who Does Government Help?

August 17, 2009

The health care debate is bringing America’s division out into the open: Is America going to work for the benefit of its people or for the few who benefit from […]

Steel: Important To Us But Not Important To Us

August 14, 2009

I had the opportunity to tour a steel plant outside of Pittsburgh yesterday. (I am here for the Netroots Nation convention.) The word that keeps coming into my mind is […]

CAF Report: Pittsburgh —The Rest of the Story

August 11, 2009

Campaign for America’s Future has released a report, Pittsburgh —The Rest of the Story (pdf file, 12 pages). This report tells the story of “Pittsburgh’s transition from the old to […]

Stimulus Package’s Buy American Clause In The News

August 10, 2009

President Obama, at the “Three Amigos” summit today in Mexico, responded to Canadian and Mexican complaints about the “Buy American Clause” in the stimulus package, reiterated that the clause is […]

Manufacture Or Borrow (Until We Can’t)

August 6, 2009

When things are going wrong it is often good practice to go back and review the basics, and start again. In baseball you go back to batting and fielding practice. […]

Misuse Of The Words Protectionism And Trade Is Making Us Poorer

August 4, 2009

Can one be called “protectionist” just for pointing out when other countries are being smart? Maybe so. I’ll get to that in a minute, but first… Language has tremendous power. […]

Conservative Hating On Cash For Clunkers

August 3, 2009

Government can work, and the “Cash for Clunkers” program proved it. So, naturally, conservatives have to hate on it. The “Cash for Clunkers” turned out to be one of the […]

Free-Market Conservatives Are Just Wrong

July 31, 2009

There are things you can see in front of your face, and then there are things that conservative “free market” ideologues tell you. One example is when they talk about […]

Why I Am Pro-Corporate

July 28, 2009

I am pro-corporate. I’ll go a step further with that and proclaim that I believe that there are no bad corporations, and that I haven’t seen any corporations do anything […]

How Should We Talk About Industrial And Manufacturing Policy?

July 27, 2009

The phrase “industrial policy” sounds so Walter Mondale, 1970s, smokestacks and brick factory old-fashioned. I suspect the subject turns people off, eyes glaze over, hands reach under the table for […]

Dude, Where’s My Industrial Policy?

July 23, 2009

Increasingly people are asking about our country’s plan for restoring and reinventing the economy. And that means thinking about manufacturing – the root of economic power. How will we revive […]

It’s The Economic Paradigm, Stupid!

July 20, 2009

I am happy to announce that beginning today I will be working as a Fellow and blogger with Campaign for America’s Future. This post introduces the areas I will be […]