Why Manufacturing is Important for Jobs

" Discussion out of your top story to nationwide unemployment rate rising to ten point 2%. Jobs lost across most sectors and some people saying the real unemployment rate people simply left the workforce given up looking for a job. May be as high as seventeen and a half percent that number as measured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics so what are we have to do to bring jobs. And manufacturing back to this country we're joined now by Leo Henry he's managing partner of Intermedia partners former CEO of a number of corporations including TCI. And Rotterdam merely -- thanks for coming on the pro."

" Thanks for letting me how to how to get jobs back to this country you have to admit that the whole is a lot deeper than is publicly announce which is your lead. I actually think the unemployment number and I actually just sent an email -- several members of the Senate. This morning off these numbers Brian that I I use a number of nineteen point 2% effective. And as if it as saying today this before we came on if you. If you have a 10% problem you react one way if you have a 20% unemployment problem you argue we have to react much differently. But the fundamental problem in the United States and and you've you've talked about this many times Brian. We have let manufacturing. Declined to a level that is simply unacceptable. And we have to roughly double from here. Prior to the Second World War for roughly fifty years of the last century. -- and -- manufacture has about 35% of our economy. Then it stayed in in the mid twenties until 1980 its plummeted to less than 12% of GDP. Less than 10% less than actually less than 9% of employment. These are unacceptable numbers. And so there there there are fixes and they're not going to be without cost and they're not can be without some disruption what you -- that you got to pursue them. You have to have a national. Sort of infrastructure policy it's it's an immediate job creator. You have to pay an awful lot more attention to the youth we have about three and a half to five million youth who never even had their first job. This economy is staying in is commenting is so rough right now that the youth and people of color particularly affected CFM programs targeting that. You have to be more reciprocal. In art trade in and purchasing policies vis a vis our competitors but three weeks ago twenty nations -- in met in Pittsburgh. Nineteen of them have what's called them by domestic program one does not. That one is notably us."

" But I want to stop you there about even though as you say all these other nations do have buys domestically. Would us doing that still have a very negative impact. On trade in this country and we are still reliant on other nations whether -- oil war cheap goods made overseas what about."

" Half of our deficit is natural resources that that's the energy reform initiatives that are topic for another day. It happens in -- is mostly in manufactured goods of those corny nation's nineteen had a trade surplus one has a trade deficit. 20% of our nation's GDP -- comes from government purchases it's it's extraordinarily high mostly manufactured goods. On May the sixteenth China announced for its central government in all of its provinces what's called a 100%. By Chinese policy 100%. And it until we reciprocate. And I I'm not a trade war cut individual and not a protectionist I give a person ever of reciprocity and balance you know and and and when the numbers. Cry out for some solution. You have to explore a lot of things by American national infrastructure. But we have to articulate a manufacturing policy we have to say as a nation this is important to us."