Bob Herbert – Right Again
He used Professor Harley Shaiken (U of C, Berkeley) to guide his observations.
Here are two observations extracted from Herbert’s column – the first is a quote from the professor:
“We’ve been living with the illusion that manufacturing — making things — is so 20th century,” said Mr. Shaiken, “and that we could succeed by concentrating, for example, on complex financial instruments while abandoning the industrial base that sustained so many American families.”
… We need a revitalized industrial policy, including the creation of whole new industries, if American families are to prosper in the coming decades. If there is any sense of urgency about this in the hearts and minds of our corporate and government leaders, I’ve missed it.
Sadly, Professor Shaiken is a professor of language and literacy, with an expertise in labor – that’s too bad, because until the economists start showing the same concern, there will be no solution – and the solution is to craft an industrial policy, one that provides incentives for American manufacturing, and the production of good stable jobs.
I have already written on this issue, so have little more to say, just that the unseen hand of the marketplace has given the worker the finger.
By the way, Detroit is not alone. If you don’t live in Detroit, but are near any of our dying Rustbelt cities, please visit one and marvel at the vest empty stretches of unused and obsolete industrial space. I have spent a lot of time in Ohio, and have seen the now very empty Springfield. Dayton is a mess too. If in Missouri, try St. Louis. In Eastern PA, take a look at the remains of Bethlehem. The residue of ruin should be considered as much of a catastrophe as a dead river or a mountainside that was mined into oblivion.
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