"Andrew presents a realistic and informed view of America's manufacturing problems and what needs to be done about them."
—Warren E. Buffett
"Andrew Liveris has hit a raw nerve regarding American economic competitiveness. His book is required reading for anyone in politics or business who believes in both America's greatness and future. He's absolutely right! We can come back—and big!"
—Jon M. Huntsman, Chairman and founder, Huntsman Corporation
"Andrew Liveris has delivered an informed, timely, and provocative blueprint for revitalizing America's economic might. It's an important book for anyone seeking an experienced business leader's view on what America must do to compete effectively in the twenty-first-century global economy."
—W. James Mcnerney, Jr., Chairman, President, and CEO, The Boeing Company
"In this passionate argument for a strong U.S. manufacturing sector, Andrew Liveris rejects the false dichotomy between the 'old' and 'new' economy and between 'low-tech' and 'high-tech' businesses. Manufacturing industries have a powerful multiplier effect on growth up and down the supply chain. To strengthen this vital sector, we need to shore up the very things—R&D, technological superiority, and investment-friendly public policies—that will create jobs, competitiveness, and opportunity throughout the entire economy."
—Ivan Seidenberg, Chairman and CEO, Verizon
"Liveris delivers a clear and compelling case for maintaining a robust manufacturing sector in the global marketplace of the twenty-first century. Every American who is concerned about the current or future state of our economy should read this book. For those who believe, as I do, that a strong manufacturing base is vital to creating jobs, innovation, and prosperity, this is a book to read and recommend to everyone you know."
—Bill Ford, Executive Chairman, Ford Motor Company
Acknowledgments xix
Introduction 1
Chapter 1 The Rise and Fall 11
How We Fell Out of Love with
Manufacturing 14
The Multiplier Effect 19
Manufacturing Tomorrow 22
Surviving the Crisis 25
A Tale of Two Nations 27
Chapter 2 Separating What Can't Be Separated 31
The Truth about the Manufacturing Crisis 36
Adding Value the Only Way We Can 40
Trying to Survive on Ideas Alone 44
Where Manufacturing Goes, the Ideas Follow 49
Chapter 3 Fighting Offshoring 53
Should I Stay or Should I Go? 56
It Isn’t What You Think 59
Taxing Problems 63
Funding the Future 67
Regulating Our Way into a Muddle 69
Trading Our Way to Prosperity 73
Chapter 4 Energy Drives the World 81
A Big Energy Bill, and Not Just for Power 82
The New New 87
Germany's Green Miracle 91
China's Green Revolution 94
America Can't Compete 98
Chapter 5 Building Tomorrow 103
Education: "A Permanent National Recession" 105
Developing the Right Skills for the New
Workplace 109
Preventing a Worker Shortage 111
What America Doesn't Understand That Other Nations Do 114
The Tortoise and the Hare 117
A New Foundation of Infrastructure 118
Funding the Future 124
Chapter 6 Built to Compete 129
An Ambitious Agenda 132
Changing the Way We Tax 134
National Incentive Strategy 136
Regulatory Policy 137
Everyone Needs Good Trading Partners 141
Chapter 7 The Long Game 145
The Human Element: Education and Immigration 147
Innovation and Competitiveness 154
Chapter 8 The Fork in the Road 163
Epilogue 175
Bibliography 189
About the Author 213
About The Dow Chemical Company 215
Index 217
Ross_Dunbar
Posted June 23, 2011
Dow's CEO Andrew Liveris has given Americans a must read book on the need for an industrial policy in the U.S. to create/revive an advanced manufacturing sector in the U.S. The book is a concise and well-written blueprint for just how to shape such a public-private cooperative partnership. In addition to advocating for a series of public policies to revitalize America's manufacturing sector, and to make the U.S. the most competitive and appealing country in the world for companies to manufacture things in (e.g. reducing the corporate income tax, making the R&D tax credit permanent, having clear and consistent regulations, increasing the number of free trade agreements we have with high-wage countries such as S. Korea, "feed-in tariffs" like Germany uses), Liveris also proposes some new and innovative ideas that would serve our country well (e.g. a specific manufacturing tax credit, a National Economic Growth Bank, and a national infrastructure bank, among other ideas). As a reader who spent a decade in the private sector (at companies including Battelle and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers) and who has been a public high school teacher for the past decade (Liveris's book also addresses the challenges in our education system -- with an important emphasis on the achievement gap within the U.S. student population) I could not put the book down. Liveris has done a great service by writing this book. I can only hope all policy makers in D.C., all business leaders, and all Americans, have the chance to read it, and to work together to implement all of the ideas in it.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Andrew N. Liveris is chairman and CEO of The Dow Chemical Company, vice chairman of the Business Council and a member of the Business Roundtable’s executive committee. Yet, unlike most of his peers, he advocates for more government intervention in the marketplace, not less. Liveris urges manufacturing executives and public policy makers to plan, develop and implement a comprehensive, government-led national program to revive American manufacturing. While typical corporations more often petition for lower corporate taxes (and then, inconsistently, sometimes seek government help), this corporate leader proposes a business-government partnership. getAbstract recommends Liveris’s call to action to manufacturing executives, government leaders and anyone with a stake in the long-term health of the US economy.
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Overview
"Andrew presents a realistic and informed view of America's manufacturing problems and what needs to be done about them."
—Warren E. Buffett
"Andrew Liveris has hit a raw nerve regarding American economic competitiveness. His book is required reading for anyone in politics or business who believes in both America's greatness and future. He's absolutely right! We can come ...