Sohrab Ahmari

Yeah, so with all this talk of plastic surgery, I'm reminded of Michelle Welbeck, the French novelist who said, you know, the prevalence of plastic surgery is a sign of sexual generosity. I don't know how that applies to many factories.

Yeah, so with all this talk of plastic surgery, I'm reminded of Michelle Welbeck, the French novelist who said, you know, the prevalence of plastic surgery is a sign of sexual generosity. I don't know how that applies to many factories.

I definitely have some Welbeck in the back. All right. But here's what I'd say is that, so the reason that the Hamiltonian tradition, again, not just Hamilton himself, but I would include Abraham Lincoln and his economic advisor, Henry Charles Carey and Teddy Roosevelt, and especially the FDR and the New Deal order, they all emphasize manufacturing. It goes back to Hamilton himself said for the

I definitely have some Welbeck in the back. All right. But here's what I'd say is that, so the reason that the Hamiltonian tradition, again, not just Hamilton himself, but I would include Abraham Lincoln and his economic advisor, Henry Charles Carey and Teddy Roosevelt, and especially the FDR and the New Deal order, they all emphasize manufacturing. It goes back to Hamilton himself said for the

For the safety and independence of national life, you need manufacturing independence, something that we encountered in 2020 during the pandemic when we realized that from basic components for many drugs to personal protective equipment for our first responders and so on, couldn't produce that on our own because we'd offshored so much manufacturing.

For the safety and independence of national life, you need manufacturing independence, something that we encountered in 2020 during the pandemic when we realized that from basic components for many drugs to personal protective equipment for our first responders and so on, couldn't produce that on our own because we'd offshored so much manufacturing.

And I heard you railing against offshoring, John, in your conversation with Senator Sanders as well. I don't care for it. So I would say, look, there is something special about manufacturing because the period of lowest inequality in American history, the New Deal order, did coincide in an industry-led economy. Manufacturing was about nearly a third of the US GDP in 1950, down to about 10% today.

And I heard you railing against offshoring, John, in your conversation with Senator Sanders as well. I don't care for it. So I would say, look, there is something special about manufacturing because the period of lowest inequality in American history, the New Deal order, did coincide in an industry-led economy. Manufacturing was about nearly a third of the US GDP in 1950, down to about 10% today.

Now, I don't know how much Adam agrees with this or not. I think that that wasn't the result of world historical deterministic inevitability, it was a result of concrete policy choices where in the beginning of the 1970s, we decided to favor finance over the real economy. And this kind of addiction to cheap labor began where not just through offshoring, but also

Now, I don't know how much Adam agrees with this or not. I think that that wasn't the result of world historical deterministic inevitability, it was a result of concrete policy choices where in the beginning of the 1970s, we decided to favor finance over the real economy. And this kind of addiction to cheap labor began where not just through offshoring, but also

lots of immigration and so on, we disempowered the American working class. And of course, the anti-union thrust of American policy that really took off under Reagan. So there is something about manufacturing, for example, the NYU sociologist, Vivek Chhibber is a Marxist, but lots of other scholars as well have shown that manufacturing jobs are easier to unionize, certainly than service sectors.

lots of immigration and so on, we disempowered the American working class. And of course, the anti-union thrust of American policy that really took off under Reagan. So there is something about manufacturing, for example, the NYU sociologist, Vivek Chhibber is a Marxist, but lots of other scholars as well have shown that manufacturing jobs are easier to unionize, certainly than service sectors.

There's something about the proximity of workers in a regular stable hours during the day, and even the kind of geographic proximity that factory life creates compared to gigafied labor. Even the Biden administration was as friendly as you could get to organize labor, but the union density, the share of workers that are covered by collective bargaining was so low now.

There's something about the proximity of workers in a regular stable hours during the day, and even the kind of geographic proximity that factory life creates compared to gigafied labor. Even the Biden administration was as friendly as you could get to organize labor, but the union density, the share of workers that are covered by collective bargaining was so low now.

Like how do we, how do we square that? Yes. So a couple of, I want to address the Adam's point. I mean, I think it's right that The manufacturing share of the GDP can go up somewhat, but that doesn't necessarily translate into huge gains in terms of the manufacturing share of the workforce precisely because of automation. I think everyone in this space recognizes that.

Like how do we, how do we square that? Yes. So a couple of, I want to address the Adam's point. I mean, I think it's right that The manufacturing share of the GDP can go up somewhat, but that doesn't necessarily translate into huge gains in terms of the manufacturing share of the workforce precisely because of automation. I think everyone in this space recognizes that.

The first thing I'd say is, first of all, the jobs that are currently in manufacturing are worth protecting. Once a month, there's like a kind of gathering of manufacturers who've committed to manufacture only in the United States. And they will tell you that, you know, Chinese dumping threatens their current employees, which are significant numbers.

The first thing I'd say is, first of all, the jobs that are currently in manufacturing are worth protecting. Once a month, there's like a kind of gathering of manufacturers who've committed to manufacture only in the United States. And they will tell you that, you know, Chinese dumping threatens their current employees, which are significant numbers.

You know, would that get us to 30 percent manufacturing if all these jobs were protected? No.

You know, would that get us to 30 percent manufacturing if all these jobs were protected? No.