Trump replaced NAFTA with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement in 2020. But his USMCA has so far failed to make trade work for North American workers.
A recent report from UAW Region 6 outlines a bold vision for how to expand clean energy industries in California using union labor. It’s an example of how unions can get serious about industrial policy and assert themselves in the “abundance” debate.
Supposedly, this is all going to revive domestic manufacturing. But the evidence for that is slim, and it wouldn’t happen overnight—especially not without other policies. At a basic level, tariffs make stuff more expensive.
Your stock portfolio may grow. But say goodbye to next year’s raise—and maybe even your job. Donald Trump’s election provides a useful occasion to examine the difference between what rich people want and what constitutes a thriving economy.
Last year, the union membership rate fell by 0.2 percentage points to 10.1% — the lowest on record. The absolute number of American workers in unions did grow in 2022 — by approximately 200,000. But the number of non-union jobs grew faster.
Dean Baker
Center for Economic and Policy Research
Policies that give more money to people at the top are inflationary. If we want to help the working class we have to pursue policies that reverse upward redistribution, not promise the return of manufacturing jobs that no longer offer a wage premium.
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