Would an Industrial Policy Help or Hurt the U.S.?
John Hofmeister ("," op-ed, Feb. 8) makes some excellent observations about the sorry state of industry in the U.S., but his analysis about what went wrong is off-base. Innovation cuts both ways when it comes to jobs. Sometimes it creates them, but often it results in doing more with less--as in people.</br></br>Further, "shipping jobs overseas" is less supply-chain driven than a chasing of lower labor costs in the face of global competition. American workers' wage and benefits demands priced them out of the world market in many of the industries Mr. Hofmeister laments.</br></br>Thus, while most of his proposed ideas about shifting corporate tax incentives will do some good no matter what, bringing back manufacturing to the U.S. will require much more. Until we have a cultural and legal shift in expectation about what constitutes appropriate compensation, those jobs will stay where they are.</br></br>Susan Michaelson</br></br>Radnor, Pa.