Why Manufacturing is Important
As you probably know, Mississippi was home to many, many factories, spread out all over the state, most of which we lost to Mexico and parts further south and east about 20 to 25 years ago. Even the non-union wages that most factory workers earned were better than the what they previously earned working on a farm or in convenience stores.
Those jobs disappeared as a result of a high dollar and international trade agreements, like NAFTA. We are poorer because of it in more ways than one.
Economist Dani Rodrick, Professor of International Political Economy at Harvard University, explains why manufacturing is important:
As I have mentioned before, we cannot indefinitely buy manufactured goods from China in exchange for government bonds. We need to be manufacturing goods and selling them at a profit, not pushing money and property around, grabbing a piece each time it passes by, which is basically how the financial system makes money.
Renewing our manufacturing sector will require tax, monetary and fiscal policies that reward manufacturing and discourage the financier and rentier. Today, the incentives run the opposite way and thus encourage highly destructive behavior.
Those jobs disappeared as a result of a high dollar and international trade agreements, like NAFTA. We are poorer because of it in more ways than one.
Economist Dani Rodrick, Professor of International Political Economy at Harvard University, explains why manufacturing is important:
Dani Rodrik: The Manufacturing ImperativeIndeed, the manufacturing sector is also where the world’s middle classes take shape and grow. Without a vibrant manufacturing base, societies tend to divide between rich and poor – those who have access to steady, well-paying jobs, and those whose jobs are less secure and lives more precarious. Manufacturing may ultimately be central to the vigor of a nation’s democracy.
As I have mentioned before, we cannot indefinitely buy manufactured goods from China in exchange for government bonds. We need to be manufacturing goods and selling them at a profit, not pushing money and property around, grabbing a piece each time it passes by, which is basically how the financial system makes money.
Renewing our manufacturing sector will require tax, monetary and fiscal policies that reward manufacturing and discourage the financier and rentier. Today, the incentives run the opposite way and thus encourage highly destructive behavior.
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