Diagnosing the American decline: a guest post
In the wake of my recent blog post on the new Oakland Bay Bridge being made in China, a lively debate has erupted. I found the best comments to be those of Vikram Dalal of Iowa State University. I am...
View ArticleWhere the jobs went
The jobs scene turned really ugly last week as the Labor Department reported that in June the economy had generated only 18,000 new jobs instead of the 250,000 it desperately needed to maintain some...
View ArticleDon't lose manufacturing but don’t use industrial policy
If you think the president's economic and technology advisers are confused, self-contradictory, and captives of a dying conventional wisdom, you are correct. The latest and greatest evidence of this...
View ArticleWhat if Japan really is No. 1?
In 1979, Harvard professor and East Asia expert Ezra Vogel publishedJapan as Number One, a book that not only became an influential bestseller in the United States but also raced to the top of the...
View ArticleWhat I want to hear in the president's jobs speech
Dear Mr. President, As you put the finishing touches on your forthcoming jobs speech, I am writing to remind you of the conversation we had about a year and a half ago when you invited me as part of a...
View Article9/12 was the fateful day
The recent remembrances of 9/11 have reminded me, once again, that it was 9/12, not 9/11, that was the truly fateful day. Of course, 9/11 was a day of heinous crimes that will live in infamy along...
View ArticleA U.S. manufacturing renaissance is possible
For a long time, the conventional wisdom on manufacturing and trade has held that American manufacturing is doomed to die and that it doesn't matter because the U.S. economy will move to the "higher...
View ArticleDoes anyone at Apple have a soul?
Did you happen to read the story in Sunday's Financial Times headlined, in the print edition: Apple Listens to the Factory Floor in China? The working hours survey said it all. Average working hours...
View ArticleThe U.S. economy is worse than it looks
So the headlines said June jobs were up by about 80,000 and unemployment stayed at 8.2 percent. Not great, but not a disaster. At least things are not getting worse. Right? Well, you could be forgiven...
View ArticleIt's not 'China bashing' if it's true
As the U.S. Presidential election campaign enters its final stages, both candidates are being criticized in the media for "bashing" China. This is in response to Obama administration filings of...
View ArticleThings could be worse, America
Locked at home and glued to the TV by the great storm, I've undergone a barrage of election campaign ads. Romney's emphasize slow growth and repeat again and again that "people are hurting in this...
View ArticleCan Lew think outside the box?
In nominating Jack Lew to be his next secretary of the Treasury, President Obama has chosen a particular type of Washington insider. It's the kind who comes to Washington after law school and goes to...
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