Responding to Harold Meyerson

Harold Meyerson writes a column. My e-mailed response:

Mr. Meyerson,

I read your latest column with interest and have a few questions that I wish you could answer. The first is regarding the manufacturing sector. You express regret over the fact that fewer Americans are working in the manufacturing sector, but I fail to see why this is a bad thing. I used to work in the manufacturing sector and know what it is like to toil on an assembly line. Frankly, it's no fun at all. It's rather mind numbing and not the healthiest of environments. (Indeed, The Washington Post had an article within the past week about the Democratic primary in Ohio that featured a factory worker who was in constant pain from the physical requirements of his job) Currently I work in a white collar job for a research/consulting firm that is much more stimulating and higher paying. The factory I used to work in has now closed -- why should I mourn its demise any more than the decline of Americans employed in the agricultural sector?

Second, how do you reconcile your liberalism with your economic nationalism? To me, it really shouldn't matter the nationality of people who get jobs. In fact, when the poor in other countries are able to lift themselves out of poverty because of foreign investment it strikes me as a cause for celebration. Why discriminate based on the basis of what passport you carry? Shouldn't we just look at workers and people as simply people, and have compassion for all of them regardless of what country they are from? In recent decades globalization has resulted in literally hundreds of millions of foreigners being raised out of poverty -- unquestionably a good thing. At the same time, U.S. unemployment has fallen to around 5%. Seems to me we are all better off. Is there another time it would be better to be alive in this country?

Lastly, why is industrial policy a good thing? Why should the government further strengthen its links with corporations? Asian countries seems to be leading practitioners of this approach and I'm not sure I would rather be a worker in any of those countries than the U.S. Japan, perhaps the leading example, has been in economic torpor for most of the past 15 years. Authoritarian China doesn't seem a leading example for the U.S. to emulate either. Germany, likewise, has experienced economic frustrations that have been largely attributable to its industrial policy approach. I fail to see the case for following the lead of such countries.

Thanks for your consideration of my comments.

Sincerely,

Colin