Advice for a Future President

By Scott Paul
Oct 07 2016
Diego Rivera’s famous Detroit Industry Murals. | Photo by Mike Steele

A blueprint for the revival of manufacturing.

Originally posted on Medium.

Manufacturing Day is a great thing. Factories across America open their doors to the public, all with a specific goal of familiarizing students (and their parents) with 21st century making and the opportunities that it may hold.

While the tens of thousands of U.S. factories do the actual hiring of future makers, our nation’s fortunes in manufacturing depend not only on the productivity of our workers, the ingenuity of our businesses, and the innovation of our researchers, but also on a stable and effective set of public policies.

So, if you are looking for a way to personally support Manufacturing Day — and strengthen this irreplaceable core of our economy — here’s what you can do:

  1. Talk to parents and kids about your own experience in manufacturing, even if your job may have been offshored years ago. New industrial opportunities are always on the horizon, and I’d rather have the products of tomorrow made here, rather than overseas. We need a skilled and engaged workforce to make this a reality.
     
  2. Buy an American product. Your purchase will support a manufacturing job (in whole or in part) and become a conversation piece.
     
  3. Engage with The Alliance for American Manufacturing on public policies, and commit to more advocacy, because we work to guarantee a level playing field for manufacturers in the United States. Right now, too many of those laws are tilted against the workers who make things here.
     
  4. Think about what you’d tell the next president, if given the chance, about why manufacturing is important, and what will help create more factory jobs. To get you thinking, here are a few words I wrote to our future president as part of a project for MForesight:

You have embraced manufacturing as a critical element of economic growth and pathway to the middle class. You recognize that public policy can help to strengthen manufacturing. I know these to be some of the core truths of your economic thinking.

Now is the time to put these words into action. We stand at the cusp of dramatic changes in manufacturing. Industry 4.0 means we will have opportunities to bring some manufacturing back to the U.S. as it becomes more automated, more technical, more digital, and more customized.

But this shift will not occur on its own. We need the right public policy environment. For this to happen, it will require your strong leadership. Manufacturing policy solutions tend to unite our otherwise divided citizens, so harnessing their energy will be critical. Navigating a fractured and dysfunctional Congress will require pragmatism and hands-on work — work you must dedicate to this effort, ahead of your other campaign goals.

An omnibus Make It in America bill is the answer. Why? Because fostering a competitive environment for manufacturing requires the adjustment of a number of monetary, fiscal, and trade policy levers.

First, erase regulatory and tax incentives for short-termism and restore Wall Street’s function as a utility and provider of capital to industry. Increase incentives for long-term corporate investments in workers, machines, innovation, and domestic production.

Second, phase in a border-adjustable carbon fee. This will minimize the externalities, both here and abroad, of climate progress, and incentivize new industries and energy processes.

Third, make post-secondary technical training free to any worker in traded industries, formalize portable credentials, and incentivize high-road apprenticeships.

Fourth, include sizable investments for infrastructure and the Manufacturing USA/MEP networks.

Finally, appoint a robust Special Trade Prosecutor to identify and knock down unfair trade practices and barriers to our exports.

Very truly yours,

Scott Paul