Reindustrializing America: A Proposal for Reviving U.S. Manufacturing and Creating Millions of Good Jobs

In this cover article for New Labor Forum, Robert Pollin and Dean Baker ask: Can we establish a growth engine driven by something other than financial bubbles? Can we renew the automobile industry and, more generally, re-establish a healthy manufacturing sector? Can we accomplish these various tasks while also rebuilding the economy on a new foundation of clean energy as opposed to fossil fuel energy sources? Are all of these projects also compatible with expanding decent job opportunities throughout the U.S. economy?
The authors begin by looking back at the interaction between public and private investment, concluding that a healthy level of public investment acts as a springboard for private investors. They then review the effectiveness of federal industrial policy over the last few decades