The Biden administration embraces place-based industrial policy
FOR SEVERAL days in late June, Ro Khanna, who represents part of Silicon Valley in Congress, travelled through some of the most un-Silicon-Valley-like places in America—eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania. These were once thriving manufacturing hubs and are now shells of their former selves. He was there to hear people talk about how job losses at factories had affected their communities. There were stories of broken pension and health-care promises, suicide, shattered families and itinerant job-seeking.
Tim Tuinstra, a union representative, reported that one school district in southern Pennsylvania has less than half as many children entering kindergarten as graduating high school, and ruefully noted that cities across America have bars catering to fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers, an American-football team. “It’s not because people there just decided they liked the Steelers,” he explained. Like the cratering school population, it’s because so many people have left.
America was founded by people who left, and ever since those first ships reached the New World, Americans have been happy to up sticks and chase a brighter future. But what about those who would prefer to stay home, but feel they can’t because of a lack of opportunity? Joe Biden wants to put an end to that dilemma. “I believe that every American willing to work hard should be able to get a good job no matter where they live,” he explained in a speech earlier this month, “and keep their roots where they grew up.”
2023-07-27 10:12:46
Article from www.economist.com
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