Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are both are headed to Detroit, which they promise to make great again through well-worn policies promoting infrastructure spending and discouraging trade.
In a new column for Reason, Veronique de Rugy writes that Clinton is merely promoting what every Democratic contender has since the New Deal, that being “to create good-paying jobs where there are none, invest in infrastructure, pay for it by raising taxes on the rich, and tell companies how they must run their business.” On the Republican side, de Rugy says Trump’s proposed policies also stand “no chance of making Detroit the prosperous manufacturing metropolis it once was…”
de Rugy suggests both candidates look to the future to help Detroit, not the past:
If there is hope for a Detroit revival, it won’t be in the form of the Motor City, nor should it be. For Detroit to hearken back to the days of automotive glory would have been like the Motor City in its prime trying to progress by shifting its focus toward propping up an obsolete horse-and-buggy industry.
Instead of trying to recreate the failed experiments of the past, candidates need to focus on allowing entrepreneurs more freedom to innovate and move beyond the moribund industrial mindset. Policymakers should focus on educating and training the population with skill sets that embrace the technological changes on the horizon.
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