Why Are Politicians So Obsessed with Manufacturing?

That's why they are obsessed with manufacturing. If someone could come up with another industry that does the same thing for unskilled workers, then politicians would back that just as hard.

The sad part is that manufacturing itself no longer pays unskilled workers well. People blame China but it's arguable that automation and machines have taken more jobs.

This is why free college for everyone in the U.S. is a good idea. Our economy is leveling up, and it's time to level up our education too.

Pretty much. The stuff you buy from China wasn't shipped 3000 miles because they have better robots than us.

> your previous friendly third world manufactures give you the finger

Countries are not kids on a playground. If a country's economy does a lot of trade with the U.S., cutting off that trade is the last thing they are going to want to do, especially in the midst of a downturn.

Think the government of Venezuela has liked the U.S. over the past 2 decades? But they haven't disliked us enough to stop selling us their oil, or buying our planes and construction equipment.

And, of course, the U.S. today remains one of the top manufacturers in the world. To the extent we are growing services, it is on top of manufacturing, not displacing it.

That said, manufacturing jobs have disappeared--and that's why politicians are obsessed with it. Because they get elected by people who want good jobs, and no one has yet discovered a new industry that will pay millions of high school graduates enough to buy a car and a single-family home, the way manufacturing used to.

This is my thinking as well because this demographic is most likely a swing voter. College educated white collar types most likely have a lifelong party affiliation and don't swing their vote, but this demographic often doesn't as they aren't typically political.

Its easier to blame cheap manufacturing overseas than to admit that our own homegrown automation is to blame here. Everyone pretending automation isn't eating the world is something every politician and every party world-wide seems to have in common, at least or now.

Lastly, there's a puritan ethic at work here. Manufacturing, as well as farming, is hard work that brings tangible and easy to understand results. Politicians can talk about those jobs and farmers with no controversy compared to praising a hedge fund manager or an investment group that created vast amounts of wealth and jobs. Its politically incorrect to praise the wealthier people in society, even though they're the ones responsible for much of the economy. Election season tends to bring out the myth that the economy is run by hard working men in overalls sweating to produce value, when its really run in swanky offices by people engaging in fairly technical disciples.

One of the big problems with democracy or at least the demagogy needed to win an election is that you often can't talk about how things really work as its seen as too elitist, technical, or just confusing. So certain classes of people are seen a virtuous like teachers, farmers, or line workers and anything having to do with big business or finance is instantly vilified. So we have these elaborate lies and strange incentives (fight for manufacturing? why?) to make sure no one gets offended or feels inferior.