The Chicago Fed convened a series of conferences in 2003–04 to address the following three questions: What are the long-term underlying trends in manufacturing and have they fundamentally changed in recent years? Second, is the poor performance of recent years a transitory phenomenon? And,...

The Chicago Fed held a series of conferences in 2003–04 aimed at understanding the recent poor performance of the manufacturing sector in the Midwest and the nation and identifying the challenges that lie ahead.

The Chicago Fed held a series of conferences in 2003–04 aimed at understanding the recent poor performance of the manufacturing sector in the Midwest and the nation and identifying the challenges that lie ahead.