Manufacturing
The president has touted the resurgence of manufacturing in America in two SOTU speeches. He has stated among other things that our manufacturing sector is adding jobs, 620,000 new manufacturing jobs over the last four years, for the first time since the 1990s. This resurgence is fueled by abundant natural gas production, which the President stated in a trip to the Marcellus Shale region outside Pittsburgh on January 30th. At this event, President Obama and US Steel CEO Mario Langhi provided some much-needed context into how the steel manufactured there is used in our daily lives. More specifically, the steel made at this facility is being used to manufacture pipelines needed to bring natural gas to our homes. And while the steel industry manufactures and provides pipelines, the natural gas industry has supplied steel plants with cheap natural gas, which keeps production costs down. Interesting that the President takes credit for increased manufacturing that largely comes from natural gas derived from fracking which he and his supporters abhor via pipelines that he does not approve. He says his administration has launched two hubs for high-tech manufacturing. One is in Youngstown, Ohio and is focused on 3-D printing and one focused on energy-efficient electronics in Raleigh, North Carolina. He has announced the next two advanced manufacturing hubs. One is in the Detroit area, and the other is in Chicago, Illinois. All these hubs are partnerships that bring together companies and universities to develop cutting-edge technology, train workers to use that technology, and then make sure that the research is translated into real-world products made by American workers. Sound good? Well it is supposed to sound good. But doe sit make a difference or just spend money? We will have to wait and see.
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Manufactured Crisis: “Deindustrialization,” Free Markets, and National Security

3/22/21
from CATO Institute,
1/27/21:

Expansive new security nationalism proposals warrant extreme skepticism, and market‐​oriented policies should be prioritized.

Both the American left and right often use “national security” to justify sweeping proposals for new U.S. protectionism and industrial policy. “Free markets” and a lack of government support for the manufacturing sector are alleged to have crippled the U.S. defense industrial base’s ability to supply “essential” goods during war or other emergencies, thus imperiling national security and demanding a fundamental rethink of U.S. trade and manufacturing policy. The COVID-19 crisis and U.S.-China tensions have amplified these claims.

First, reports of the demise of the U.S. manufacturing sector are exaggerated.

Second, “security nationalism” assumes a need for broad and novel U.S. government interventions while ignoring the targeted federal policies intended to support the defense industrial base.

Third, several of these laws and policies provide a cautionary tale regarding the inefficacy of certain core “security nationalist” priorities.

Fourth, although the United States is not nearly as open (and thus allegedly “vulnerable”) to external shocks as claimed, global integration and trade openness often bolster U.S. national security by encouraging peace among trading nations or mitigating the impact of domestic shocks.

For these reasons, expansive new security nationalism proposals warrant extreme skepticism, and market‐​oriented policies should be prioritized. As President Truman stated decades ago: The United States is opposed to governmental policies fostering autarchy, for itself as well as for others. Encouragement of uneconomic domestic production and unjustified preferential treatment of domestic producers destroys trade and so undermines our national economic strength. A large volume of soundly based international trade is essential if we are to achieve prosperity in the United States, build a durable structure of world economy and attain our goal of world peace and security.182 American policymakers would be wise to remember—and heed—Truman’s advice.

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