Letter: US rustbelt — that’s where industrial policy matters

Once again Martin Wolf offers wise, layered analysis in his cautionary column “Industrial policy is a tricky business” (Opinion, June 19).

In his discussion of the US shift towards industrial policy, Wolf notes “three bipartisan positions” as facilitators of that and the related movement towards protectionism: “nostalgia for manufacturing; hostility to China; and indifference to the international rules that the US itself created.”

I agree but would add a fourth interconnected facilitator — a keen awareness by both US parties of the electoral vote relationship with the other three.

Whereas industrial policy is not a high area of concern in many states, it is a serious matter to union member voters in the November elections in the rustbelt swing states around the Great Lakes.

Unfortunately, politics too often takes priority over balanced economic policy. So when Wolf advocates that policymakers need to be “rational and careful” in their decisions, I have no doubt they agree, but with electoral votes in mind.

Charles J Skuba
Emeritus Professor of the Practice, International Business & Marketing,
The McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University,
Washington, DC, US