City governments can empower more skilled workforces and investments in IT to thrive in an atmosphere of rapidly evolving workplace robotics. More »
So, I asked, how should trade policy be changed? Autor’s answers again surprised me. He suggested that the process of admitting China to the World Trade Organization back in 2000 should have been slowed down significantly. That would have given American workers and industries time to prepare for, and adjust to, China’s competitive onslaught. He also endorsed the border adjustment tax now being considered by Congress. That tax would probably benefit U.S. exporters at the expense of importers.
But Autor went quite a bit further. He told me that the U.S. government should focus attention on manufacturing industries, and even use industrial policy to bolster the sector. More »
Samsonite suggests making bags in the U.S. could actually save money for the firm, which was founded in Colorado over a century ago. “The advantage enjoyed by lower cost economies is a lot less than it used to be,” says chairman Tim Parker, citing rising labor costs in countries like China and the cost of freighting goods between the east and West. More »
How do taxes in your state compare nationally? This convenient resource compares the 50 states on many different measures of taxing and spending, including individual and corporate income tax rates, business tax climates, excise taxes, tax burdens and state spending. More »
Here’s how we can build a new system of policies and safety nets to bring back opportunity to the American work force. (It has nothing to do with walls, trade deals, or immigration.) More »
What’s been happening with these colleges and their towns is really no different from what has happened in large cities. Globalization, economic change and technology have produced an all-hands-on-deck competitive environment. Just as major corporations, research universities and foundations have engaged in helping to make the bigger cities where they are located succeed, so have the institutions in smaller communities. For many small towns, that means the local college. More »
There is broad popular support for an economic growth agenda focused on innovation, science, technology, and entrepreneurship. We regret the Administration’s initial proposal would send this country in a different direction. We look forward to doing our part and working with others to make our case to Congress. More »
Educational initiatives continue to dominate in state of the state, budget and inaugural addresses, with governors in North Carolina, New Hampshire and Oregon all acknowledging its importance in the workforce development sphere and the future competitiveness of the states. More »
Every four years, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) publishes The Infrastructure Report Card, which grades the current state of national infrastructure categories on a scale of A through F. Since 1998, America’s infrastructure has earned persistent D averages, and the failure to close the investment gap with needed maintenance and improvements has continued. But the larger question at stake is the implication of D+ infrastructure on America’s economic future. More »
Already depleted by foreign competition, states and cities offer increasingly lucrative tax breaks and other benefits to keep companies local, sometimes squaring off with neighboring municipalities More »
Robots are inevitably going to automate millions of jobs in the US and around the world, but there’s an even more complex scenario on the horizon, said roboticist Matt Rendall. In a talk Tuesday at SXSW, Rendall painted a picture of the future of robotic job displacement that focused less on automation and more on the realistic ways in which the robotics industry will reshape global manufacturing. More »
The Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte concluded about a year ago that some 22% of skilled manufacturing workers, or 2.7 million valued employees, are retiring over the next decade. Industry growth means companies will need to add another 700,000 skilled employees. So a total of 3.4 million workers will be needed. But due to a variety of factors, the industry is projected to fall a startling 2.0 million workers short of its needs. More »
It would be hard to find an industrial products CEO who was not enthusiastic about the prospect of a lower headline tax rate. Many of the CEOs also express enthusiasm for the new approach to border taxes laid out in the House Republican Blueprint. More »
With a new US administration discussing shifts on trade, taxes, and regulations, it’s almost certain that economic conditions for businesses will change in the upcoming months. But it’s hard for CEOs to make key decisions until new policies begin to take shape. More »
nterapt is one of several companies hoping to jump-start eastern Kentucky's economy by reinventing its workforce. A manufacturing school to teach out-of-work coal miners how to operate advanced computer numeric control machines is scheduled to open this year. And Bitsource, a software and website development company, has been coding for two years in Pikeville after hiring former coal miners. More »
Over the past 15 months, 15 companies, including Fortune 500 firms, have announced plans to locate or expand in Rhode Island, and 19 real estate projects, including hotels and apartments, have been approved. More »
The 19th-century brick mill buildings lining the Merrimack River in this city of 110,000 seem an unlikely choice for the headquarters of Dyn, an internet performance company whose clients include Twitter, Netflix and Zappos. More »
