Portside

Leading economists' misdiagnosis of inflation in 2021-22 was the latest episode in a long-running series of failures. Either mainstream economists need to re-examine their core beliefs, or the profession needs a new mainstream.

Output growth at the nation’s factories has [...] been weak since 2000. And though automation undoubtedly has displaced some workers in manufacturing, research suggests that persistent trade deficits and America’s decline as a location for production have accounted for much of the sector’s job loss. Boosting exports or reducing imports enough to bring trade into balance would generate 4.2 million jobs directly and another 2.1 million jobs indirectly.