A recent Brookings paper makes a clear case from the start: “Manufacturing matters to the United States …” Other economists and econ bloggers aren’t so sure.
What’s clear, however, is certain states (think Indiana, Wisconsin, and Arkansas) depend on manufacturing to fuel their economies more than others. One way to measure just how dependent states are on manufacturing – rather than simply looking at total jobs or exports – is by looking at a common concentration measure known as location quotient (LQ). read more »