As a recent post by Stephen Ezell referenced, a recent op-ed by Christina Romer has touched off a back and forth on the blogshere on whether manufacturing matters.  The fact that the question is even asked illustrates the lack of understanding of the issue and of the structure of our economy. Back in December Susan Hockfield, the President of MIT, made the case for manufacturing in her own op-ed "Manufacturing a Recovery". Central to her argument is a description of some advanced manufacturing...

Stephen Ezell, Matt Stepp, and Rob Atkinson contributed to this summary. The President mentioned many issues ITIF focuses on in his State of the Union address last night. And by in large, we agree with what he said when it comes to economic competitiveness. The President deserves praise for putting these issues, specifically manufacturing, front and center. He helped rally the nation and the Congress to the fact that restoration of competitiveness and a vibrant manufacturing sector are, indeed...

According to all indications, the President will use tonight's State of the Union to hit on economic themes.  Look for exhortations to Congress to pass the payroll tax cut extension and other Obama Administration proposals.  With the head of the IMF now talking about a "1930's moment" in Europe, there are clearly some short term economic issues to be addressed.  But on the long term issues, what I expect to hear tonight is an expanded variation of the following: We need to increase our investments...

In perusing the Census Bureau archive at http://www.census.gov/history/, I found, deeply embedded in multi-thousand-paged censuses of manufacturers for 1900 and 1909, relatively sophisticated analyses of U.S. clusters, organized by industry and locality. The 1900 version goes on for 25 pages, covering for each of 15 industries, major manufacturing operations by state and city, nominally and in terms of localization (city's share of the U.S.) and specialization (industry's share of city's output...

On this day in 1957, the Soviet Union deployed Sputnik. The two-foot, 180-pound orb’s beeping was the starting gun of the space race and we in the U.S. seemed to be just putting our sneakers on. Despite President Eisenhower’s initial shrug, America freaked out – but in good way. In under a year, a Democratic Congress and the Republican President created and made operational the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The National Defense Education Act, which not only jump started...

President Obama is slated to unveil his long-awaited jobs plan Thursday, September 8. What are the optimal policies he should advocate to restore both short- and long-term U.S. jobs growth? The answer depends first and foremost on the right diagnosis of the causes of anemic U.S. economic growth and corresponding job losses both over the past decade and in the last few years. Three primary—and fundamentally differing—diagnoses have been advanced. The two prevailing ones are: 1) this is a demand...

Last month, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) submitted a Report to the President on Ensuring American Leadership in Advanced Manufacturing. In general, the report does a good job of explaining the true current state of U.S. manufacturing; articulating the implications of declining U.S. leadership in manufacturing on the country’s ability to produce high-paying jobs, to close our trade deficit, and to ensure U.S. national security; and identifying policy recommendations...

(Cross-posted from The Avenue at tnr.com) Last week President Obama announced the creation of an Advanced Manufacturing Partnership intended to create good manufacturing jobs and improve U.S. competitiveness. The Partnership, supported by more than $500 million in existing federal funds, is a government-industry-university initiative oriented toward high tech innovation in manufacturing.  Specific plans include creating the next generation of robots, developing energy-efficient manufacturing...

A groundswell of policy papers have called for the creation of a national manufacturing strategy to bolster U.S. manufacturing competitiveness. These reports contain a number of thoughtful and innovative policy proposals to revitalize American manufacturing. In the interest of advancing this dialogue, ITIF takes this opportunity to consolidate all these reports in one single location for easy access by policymakers, executives, and the public at large. If you don't see your organization's report...