But why should creating more manufacturing jobs be a policy goal?
A large part of the answer is the widespread perception that manufacturing jobs are good jobs — jobs that pay well and come with good benefits.
Manufacturing jobs aren’t inherently better than jobs in other sectors.
True, there was a long period — basically from Franklin Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan — when manufacturing jobs were, in fact, good jobs.
But those relatively high wages in manufacturing didn’t just happen: They were negotiated by unions, which were much more powerful in manufacturing than in the rest of the economy.
Persons:
Donald Trump, Joe Biden, didn’t, Biden, Franklin Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan —, ”
Organizations:
United Auto Workers, Trump