Manufacturing provides a vital link to prosperity. Not everyone believes that. In fact, the manufacturing sector has become the invisible economy to many of us. Other parts of the economy — finance and services, for example, and sub-sectors such as software and Internet-related companies have commanded more attention. Yet manufacturing remains enormously important. The industrial sector is special because of its size, its ability to generate value, its role in meeting people’s wants and needs, and the dignity of the work it provides for millions of people in the United States and countries throughout the world. Thus, the link between production and prosperity is a serious issue that merits thorough study and convincing evidence, both by scrutinizing the data and by getting out to the front lines to talk with the people who make manufacturing work.
