‘A strong, vibrant manufacturing sector is critical to the future prosperity of the United States and its workers. The authors provide enormous background, case studies, and analysis about how to implement strong trade and industrial policies to restore America's leadership in innovation and manufacturing – and the good jobs that come with it. Even the most controversial policy recommendations are worthy of review and consideration, no matter your position on trade policies. This should be required reading for any policymaker working to increase America's productive capacity and strengthen our supply chains.' Earl Blumenauer
‘Industrial Policy for the United States is truly impressive. While readers may disagree with some of its recommendations, almost all will find its documentation of the practice over the last three centuries a source of valuable historical perspective. And its assessments of past successes and failures-overseas and in the US-will be helpful to policymakers in a world where industrial policy is likely to become de rigueur.' Willy Shih, Robert & Jane Cizik Baker Foundation Professor of Management Practice, Harvard Business School
‘Industrial Policy for the United States in an indispensable guide for CEOs-multinationals to small and medium sized manufacturers-for understanding and taking full advantage of America's return to industrial policy. Equally valuable, it is also a guide to what US business should ask of our government to help them succeed against Chinese and other foreign competition. The book convincingly rebuts the ‘leave everything to the market' arguments against industrial policy and quantifies the horrific damage done to our businesses, workers, and national security during our decades-long pursuit of the free trade mirage. It explains-in theory and through country and industry case studies-why government support of US innovation and manufacturing, the strategic use of tariffs to ensure that things are made as well as invented here, and ending the overvaluation of the dollar are ALL necessary for sustained success. The final chapter is a comprehensive, wellthought-out and coherent set of policy recommendations for US government action. This book should be required reading for every policymaker in Washington.' Dan DiMicco, Former Chairman and CEO, Nucor Corporation
‘There has been a global trend of policymakers drifting away from laissez faire and free trade, because of various reasons. And that story has not been explained rigorously enough by most books and research papers that exist today. This in-depth treatise on Industrial Policy fills in this huge gap in a scintillating manner with references and explanations from across the world. The book provides the readers with intellectual ammunition needed to contrast and compare various policy pathways and their potential impact on industries.' Badri Narayanan, Former Head, Trade and Commerce, NITI Aayog, Lead Trade Advisor to PM Narendra Modi
‘State ownership and control of industry have failed, as has leaving everything to the market. Instead, governments need judicious and evidence based industrial policies. This book makes a brilliant case for same, combining strategic guidance by the state with the innovative potential of competitive enterprise. Everyone who cares about our economic future should read this.' Geoffrey M. Hodgson, Emeritus Professor of Economics, Loughborough University, Editor in Chief, Journal of Institutional Economics
‘If America and its democratic allies are to recover the economic and strategic bulk lost over the last four decades, elected officials and policymakers will need a plan. No longer can they blindly put their hopes in the abstractions of free-market ideology. They must have industrial policy tethered to the reality of strategic competition. Our strategic rivals are embracing industrial policy to our detriment; we must respond. This excellent book lights the way ahead.' Andrew Hastie, Member of Parliament, Commonwealth of Australia and Shadow Minister for Defence
‘A well-written, well-reasoned, and remarkably thorough case for a much more vigorous and targeted industrial policy. It correctly argues that markets alone will not optimize output from the most valuable industries because of significant market failures. Its detailed, well-articulated proposal for a specific ‘Industrial Policy for the United States' should give free-market acolytes pause and progressives ammunition in the battle for an industrial revival.' Jeffrey Fuhrer, Non-Resident Fellow, Brookings Institution, Foundation Fellow at the Eastern Bank Foundation
‘So much economic analysis and controversy misses the real heart of our current crisis – America's industries, especially manufacturing – and why they keep losing ground to foreign competitors. This book finally gives a complete picture of what went wrong and what we can do about it. I especially appreciated the discussion of how the development and deployment of innovations depends on not only the private sector, but also on crucial, under-appreciated programs like the Manufacturing Extension Partnership and Manufacturing USA. If American industry is to convincingly recover its formerly world-leading position, this country will need to support every step of the innovation pipeline, not just pure science and defense-oriented technologies, across the entire industrial spectrum.' Carroll Thomas, Former Director, Manufacturing Extension Partnership
‘The fight to control tomorrow's strategic industries will not be determined by market forces but by industrial policy. This superb and timely book explains why and how America must act if it is to be a major player in the world's industrial future.' Stewar Paterson, Author, China, Trade and Power: Why the West's Economic Engagement Has Failed
‘Without a doubt this is the most definitive analysis of industrial policy ever written. For anyone interested in industrial policy and its implications for the economy, this is the perfect source and a real triumph!' Barry Bluestone, Professor Emeritus of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Russell B. and Andree B. Stearns Trustee Professor of Political Economy, Northeastern University
‘Research, discussion, and policy initiatives advocating industrial policy for the US is spreading in wake of the failure of neoliberal doctrines to deliver inclusive growth and technological leadership. Fasteau and Fletcher's seminal contribution advances this agenda and paves the way for a proactive commonsensical set of industrial policies.' John Komlos, Professor Emeritus of Economics and Economic History, University of Munich
‘This book illuminates the path through the complexities and escalating costs of industry and advanced manufacturing, where current US policy is insufficient. Presenting a detailed plan and advocating for a whole-of-government industrial policy, it offers essential guidance for students and policymakers to navigate and shape the future of American industry.' David Bourne, Principal Scientist, Robotics, Carnegie Mellon Associate Director, Manufacturing Futures Institute
‘Fasteau and Fletcher have assembled an extraordinarily comprehensive work on industrial history and strategy. It should be a must-read for policy makers. It is an impressive and insightful exploration and analysis of not just America's industrial past, present and future, but of how its competencies compare to the rest of the world. Moreover, the authors have compiled such a tremendous amount of data in making their case that this book will serve as an essential go-to reference book for years to come.' Ira Moskowitz, CEO, Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute; former VP and General Manager, US Operations, Analog Devices Inc.
‘The authors demolish the illusion that our post-WWII economic dominance was the result of the private sector on its own developing and commercializing technologies from the underlying science. They address the need for a multi-pronged growth policy targeting a portfolio of high technologies with a market focus. They rightly advocate investment in R&D, capital formation, labor upskilling, and technological infrastructure, and address the quasi-public-good nature of much of this investment, necessitating a combined government-industry approach. Although recent legislation offers hope for such reforms, the jury is still out, making this book very timely.' Gregory Tassey, Economic Policy Research Center, University of Washington
‘This timely book's in-depth examination of industrial policy's constructive dynamic explains what it is and why it is so urgently needed now. More than just an engaging current read, its value as a relevant resource ensures its lasting place on the shelves of economists, academics, policy makers, and anyone hoping to successfully participate in the new economic environment.' Chris Gallagher, IP Watchdog.com
★ 12/13/2024
Fasteau (The Male Machine) and Fletcher (Free Trade Doesn't Work) are leading members of the bipartisan research and advocacy group Coalition for a Prosperous America. Their ambitious book successfully argues for the importance of industrial policies for rational economic planning and calls for the market to be supplemented by economic planning. The book's first section provides theoretical underpinnings for industry policy and explains how to identify industries capable of the most growth. The authors examine and expertly analyze the tools an industry might make use of—export subsidies, targets, and more—regarding trade and monetary policies. The second part of the book details eight case studies of countries and shows how and why industrial policies failed or succeeded. The authors note the history of industrial policy, mainly in the United States, from colonial times to the present and consider how industrial policies can encourage innovation. They back their findings and conclusions up with case studies of U.S. industries and clusters. VERDICT This is a rich, thought-provoking study that will appeal to readers interested in the practicalities of public policy.—Shmuel Ben-Gad
★ 2024-11-20
It’s time for the government to reenergize American manufacturing and other industries with a determined program of subsidies and trade barriers, argues this sweeping economic manifesto.
Investment banker Fasteau and economist Fletcher, both members of the Coalition for a Prosperous America, present a wide-ranging critique of the economic orthodoxy that holds unfettered free trade as alwaysa blessing. In reality, they argue, America’s pro-free trade policies have led to the offshoring of crucial industries, including the production of military equipment and medical supplies that are critical to national well-being, and the replacement of stable, well-paying manufacturing jobs with low-wage service and retail jobs. They call for a comprehensive, protectionist industrial policy that would nurture “advantageous industries” that underlie an innovative, high-tech, high-wage economy, and for a monetary policy that would end the overvaluation of the dollar that produces trade deficits by making American products artificially more expensive than those of foreign competitors. The authors flesh out these ideas in intricate case studies of industrial policies around the world; they discuss China’s ruthlessly effective program of boosting exports through unfair trade practices as well as the evolution of various American industries, like the decades-long saga of the Big Three automakers’ loss of market share. They conclude with detailed policy proposals, which include leaving the World Trade Organization, raising tariffs on imports, and providing manufacturing companies with a raft of government loans and tax breaks. Fasteau and Fletcher synthesize a wealth of data and economic history into an incisive analysis of the workings and pitfalls of free trade. They convey all of this in lucid, accessible prose that manages to turn complex technical arguments into pithy, down-to-earth aphorisms. (“Growth is about turning Burkina Faso into South Korea, not about being the most efficient possible Burkina Faso forever,” they write in a tour-de-force debunking of the theory of comparative advantage.) The result is a lucid diagnosis of America’s economic decline and an ambitious, hopeful program for reversing it.
A stimulating call for government action to restore America’s standing as an industrial powerhouse.
