Kamala Harris went to Pittsburgh to give what was billed as a "major economic address" on the policies she would pursue if elected president. Instead, she called on America to move on from policies that don't work.
"When the middle class is strong. America is strong. And we can build a stronger middle class," Harris said. "The American economy... is the most powerful force for innovation and wealth creation in human history. We just need to move past the failed policies that we have proven don't work. And like generations before us, let us be inspired by what is possible," Harris said.
"Failed policies" like Bidenomics? Who does she think is in power right now?
Harris's denialism did not escape social media critics.
Acceptance is the first step:
— Steve Cortes (@CortesSteve) September 25, 2024
“We just need to move past the failed policies that we have proven don't work.” - Kamala Harris pic.twitter.com/iB2SLe55Uh
Nor did her implicit endorsement of Donald Trump.
Kamala Harris says we need to move past the failed policies that don’t work. She’s telling to to vote for Trump. Listen to her. pic.twitter.com/EXLJfrGFlS
— Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) September 25, 2024
This was the first thing I thought of when Harris told us to "move on from the failed policies of the past."
New Trump ad just dropped!
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) September 25, 2024
“We just need to move past the failed policies that we have proven don't work." - Kamala Harrispic.twitter.com/B2HdcNRzWu
As far as the substance of her speech, Kamala Harris plans to put government intervention front and center in the economy.
Harris on Wednesday said that if elected president, she would support a new tax credit that will invest tens of billions of dollars in domestic manufacturing. The credit would aim to create jobs in cutting-edge fields such as biotechnology and aerospace production, and to strengthen traditional industries such as iron and steel, Harris said in a policy document.
President Biden has long championed such policies, dedicating hundreds of billions of dollars to supporting the country’s manufacturing of computer chips, electric vehicles, batteries and other high-tech goods.
Donald Trump has also placed American manufacturing at the core of his economic campaign, though the former president aims to use import tariffs and a targeted corporate tax cut to support domestic producers. Harris’s campaign has criticized Trump’s proposals, saying the costs of the new tariffs would likely get passed along to American consumers, leading to higher prices.
“One of the recurring themes of American history is that when we make an intentional effort to invest in our industrial strength, it leads to extraordinary prosperity and security—not only for years but for generations,” Harris said. She specifically mentioned Abe Lincoln's backing of bonds and land grants for the transcontinental railroad, Eisenhower's advocacy to get Congress to approve funds for the interstate highway system, and JFK's boosting of the space race.
Trump's plans include slapping tariffs on foreign products to make U.S. goods more competitive and corporate tax cuts in order to better compete with China. Some Republicans agree, in part, with Harris that tax incentives, loans, and government subsidies are necessary to compete with China.
Competing with China's command economy will require innovative solutions, not slavish devotion to ideology. Even free marketeers think some kind of industrial policy is necessary,
“You don’t want to be in a position where you can’t get the chips you need to put in your cars and computers because China gave you the middle finger,” Robert Barbera, an economist at Johns Hopkins University, told the Journal. However, Barbera also points to the reality that both candidates' emphasis on manufacturing is more nostalgia than reality.
“There is a nostalgic sense about their importance because manufacturing jobs were the higher paying jobs and they were highly unionized and they were trendsetters,” he said.
Rust Belt jobs in many industries have been gone for quite some time, and trying to bring them back would be futile.
Factory employment has cut an erratic path in recent years. It grew in the first two years of Trump’s administration—in January 2019, there were a seasonally adjusted 462,000 more manufacturing jobs than there had been when he took office in January 2017. But they plateaued over the course of the next year, and then fell sharply when the pandemic hit. In January 2021 there were 178,000 fewer manufacturing jobs than there had been four years earlier. As of August, the U.S. has added 739,000 manufacturing jobs during the Biden administration.
Even so, manufacturing now accounts for just 8.1% of U.S. jobs, a slightly lower share than at the end of former President Barack Obama’s time in office. In 1950, that share averaged 31%.
Who comes out ahead after the boom in artificial intelligence, quantum computers, and other high-tech industries will determine world dominance for most of the coming century.
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