Industrial Policy for the United States
Winning the Competition for Good Jobs and High-Value Industries

How the US can use industrial policy to win the international competition for good jobs and high-value industries.

Marc Fasteau (Author), Ian Fletcher (Author)

9781009243070, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 21 November 2024

836 pages
23.6 x 15.9 x 4.4 cm, 1.42 kg

'The topic of industrial policy has surged back onto the American political scene so quickly that most policymakers find themselves scrambling to educate themselves and thirsty for relevant expertise. Industrial Policy for the United States should be their authoritative resource. And unlike most such resources, occasionally thumbed through in search of a particular statistic or quote, this book will be found sitting open on many of the Washington desks at which the decisions get made.' Oren Cass, Executive Director, American Compass

The U.S. is losing the competition for good jobs and high-value industries because most of Washington believes trade should be free, the dollar should float, and that innovation comes exclusively from the private sector. In this book, the authors make the bold case that these laissez-faire ideas have failed and that a robust industrial policy is the only way for America to remain prosperous and secure. Trump and Biden have enacted some of its elements, but it needs to be made systematic and comprehensive, including tariffs to protect key industries, a competitive exchange rate, and federal support for commercialization—not just invention—of new technologies. Timely, meticulously researched, and bipartisan, this impressive analysis replaces misunderstandings about industrial policy with lucid explanations of its underlying economic theory, the tools that implement it, and its successes (and failures) in America and abroad. It examines key industries of the past and future – steel, automobiles, television, semiconductors, space, aviation, robotics, and nanotechnology. It concludes with a realistic, actionable policy roadmap. A work of rigor and ambition, Industrial Policy for the United States is essential reading.

Preface
Introduction
Part I. The Underlying Economics: 1. Why the free market can't do everything
2. The dynamics of advantageous industries
3. The Industrial Policy Tool Kit
4. Trade, currencies & industrial policy
Part II. Country Case Studies: 5. Japan: the first Asian miracle
6. Korea: development despite turbulence
7. China: pursuing economic hegemony through mercantilism
8. Germany: the art of relationship capitalism
9. France: the triumph & failures of the state
10. Britain: no theory & little execution
11. India: dysfunctional socialism, directionless capitalism
12. Argentina: a dual cautionary tale
Part III. The Forgotten History: 13. The renaissance origins of industrial policy
14. US industrial policy 1750–1865: developing a new nation
15. US industrial policy 1866–1939: the highpoint of protectionism
16. US industrial policy 1940–1973: the golden age of the us economy
17. US industrial policy 1974–2007: doubling down on free markets
18. US industrial policy 2008–present: the end of the old order
Part IV. Innovation as A System: 19. Governmentally supported innovations
20. Federal science & technology programs
21. Federal proactive innovation programs
22. Industrial policy for advanced manufacturing
23. Micro-governance of industrial policy
24. The crisis of the American patent system
Part V. Industry Case Studies: 25. Automobiles: decline & a chance at revival
26. Semiconductors, aviation & space: the military connection
27. Robotics: a global industrial policy competition
28. Nanotechnology: is America losing the future?
Part VI. Regional Cluster Case Studies: 29. The Massachusetts life sciences cluster
30. The upstate New York semiconductor cluster
Recommendations: an industrial policy for the United States
Notes
Select bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Economics of industrial organisation [KCD]