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Dear Mr. Larry D:
ReplyDeleteI note that since you’ve retired you’ve been a very prolific blogger, and I add that I’ve enjoyed your practical down-to-earth easy-to-read style. I particularly enjoy your non-radical, objective, logical challenges to the offerings of “mainstream” writers and political thinking that, should I be so bold as to note, seem to lean a smidgeon to the left. Hooray for you! I would like to see more challenges to the “facts” as presented by erstwhile “leading” pundits and politicians. How refreshing to experience such forthright thoughts. Heck, you could be the male Peggy Noonan.
Understandably, since your education, profession, and experience is grounded in economics, your blogies gyrate to that groove. I am curious as to whether you would endeavor to apply your economic acumen to adjacent areas, such as international trade, globalization, and specifically, from an economic perspective, addressing whether the U.S. can regain its industrial competitiveness. U.S. trade and monetary policy since the 70’s has resulted in an overall weakening of this country’s ability to maintain its life style and standard of living. I argue that unless the U.S. manufacturing base is restored the middle class will disappear resulting in a widening gap between low income earners (more dependent on government) and high income earners (paying the taxes to support the former).
What are your thoughts as to how the U.S. can restore U.S. manufacturing to its pre-70’s world-class competitiveness, increase employment therein, at wages that will extend the lifecycle of the middle class? Or is this a futile question?
I hope this stimulates your followers to think beyond current domestic political crassness to contemplating, longer term, how the economy can generate wealth sufficient to support impending higher taxes and pay for increasing welfare, entitlements, and the drain that we, the Boomers, will impose on the upcoming generation – not that we, in the ‘60’s – gave much thought to this.
Thanks for your comments Charlie -- glad you like the blog. It is appropriate to discuss here anything that might have macro implications. Economic growth is definitely part of macro. As for your questions -- good answers would require something next to a dissertation. So excuse the brief answers. First, I doubt anything will restore US manufacturing to its previous glory. I think we ought to give up on that one. Second, I would like to see more evidence that this restored manufacturing presence would prevent the hollowing out of the income distribution, especially in today's global competition. Finally, the main policies we need for growth are the tried and true ones. Firms create jobs and output. Firms need a good environment to do that. We need to have a regulatory system that is sufficient to foster competition and root out the thugs -- while at the same time not so onerous that it reduces incentives to hire and produce. Similarly, we need government spending and taxation such that social needs are met -- but without creating such high tax rates or financial conditions that reduce the incentives for growth. Pretty simple, eh? I too hope this line of thinking creates more comments here.
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