Preparing For a Manufacturing Resurgence

If we could just tweak a few policy things, the U.S. economy could add 3.7 million jobs.  Manufacturing is the key.

That's the Twitteresque (meaning less than 140 characters with room for a link) version of an Aspen Institute report titled The Manufacturing Resurgence: What It Could Mean For the U.S. Economy.

It's a must read.

The report models out a "plausible resurgence scenario" for U.S. manufacturing and what it could mean for the U.S. economy as a whole.  The results are music to the ears of everyone who cares about manufacturing but should be to everyone.  Everyone.

A summary of the report by Ideas Lab indicates these tidbits by the Year 2025:

3.7 million new manufacturing jobs

A reversal of the manufacturing trade deficit

Higher manufacturing output—specifically, $1.5 trillion higher than in the baseline scenario

Higher investment in equipment and software—specifically, 12.1 percent higher in 2025, relative to the baseline

How do we get there?

The Ideas Lab folks summed up the policy changes that could help bring about that resurgence versus maintaining the status quo.  Here's the list:

Complete more trade-opening agreements (Europe/Asia); combat currency manipulators

Sustain current energy boom (natural gas); improve electric grid

Reduce regulatory overlap

Improve K-12 STEM education

Lower corporate taxes to OECD average levels; adopt territorial tax system

Expand basic research funding

That's really not a hard list. 

Trade agreements that bring fair trade make sense. 

If government stays out of the way, the energy boom will sustain itself and the resurgence of manufacturing is a spark to improve the electric grid.

Regulatory reform?  No better time for that than a lameduck Presidential adminstration.

Who doesn't see the value of improving STEM education?  We have to change attitudes, though, and that means embracing manufacturing.

Taxes and research funding are more difficult to tackle, probably, but that's all a matter of priority investing.  There are times our policy makers have been able to figure that out.

Let's do it!