The Council on Foreign Relations offered some ideas recently on “revitalizing the U.S. economy in a globalized world.”  And while doing so, they targeted comments made by both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama at AAM’s Presidential Candidates Forum on Manufacturing last week in Pittsburgh:

In comments to the Alliance for American Manufacturing in Pittsburgh, Clinton and Obama emphasized they favored trade deals that were “fair” to U.S. workers and included labor and environmental protections. Both also support cutting subsidies to companies that outsource jobs overseas.

 While the Council saw little merit in Obama’s and Clinton’s views, they did suggest that “the diverse landscape of Pennsylvania offers a useful laboratory for exploring ideas on reviving the U.S. economy.”  They acknowledged that “Pennsylvania has taken a hit to its manufacturing base—losing 200,000 jobs.”  But they see hopeful possibilities in the state’s “innovation, human capital, and knowledge economy jobs.”

Ironically, their editorial is accompanied by a photo of the shuttered Bethlehem Steel Mills plant.  The caption under the photo notes that “a remnant of Pennsylvania’s old manufacturing sector is being converted into a hotel casino complex.”

ManufactureThis would chuckle if the truth weren’t so disappointing.  It’s simply hard to equate lost manufacturing jobs with the presumptive cocktail waitress jobs offered by a looming casino.  It happens that manufacturing pays well, and is so interwoven with the surrounding economy that it can support four to five other jobs.  It’s hard to imagine a waitressing job accomplishing the same for a hard-hit Pennsylvania community.  But the Council sees it differently.

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