Government Deficits and The Deindustrialization of America

Government deficits are accelerating deindustrialization in the United States. Should we care? Absolutely. One reason is that manufacturing and associated learning-by-doing are powerful sources of external benefits that accelerate economy-wide productivity growth. A second is that the loss of manufacturing jobs is a powerful source of anger against free trade. The U.S. federal government needs to run surpluses to eliminate the savings deficiency of the American economy.