Why—and Which—Manufacturing Matters: Innovation and Production in the United States
Despite massive job losses in the last decade, U.S. manufacturing remains critical to the nation’s economic future and requires a new era of policy attention. Thus, it is essential that the U.S. reach consensus on the importance of manufacturing and then move aggressively to maintain the nation’s facility for novel product innovation while upgrading the capacity for continuous incremental and process improvements.
On February 22, the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings hosted a forum exploring the type of manufacturing the nation is most likely to retain and build, as well as a policy framework for strengthening high-wage, export-intensive production in America. Brookings and CONNECT Innovation Institute scholars will present new arguments from complementary research studies assessing production activities and innovation. A panel of CONNECT researchers—including experts from the private sector and academia—presented their policy recommendations, focusing on the experiences of specific industries for supporting both radical and incremental innovation in U.S. manufacturing. Following the panel, Irwin Jacobs, co-founder of Qualcomm, Inc. and a member of CONNECT Innovation Institute, offered a keynote address.
After each panel, speakers took audience questions. Participants joined the discussion on Twitter using the hashtag #usmfg.
Agenda
Welcome
Peter Cowhey
Dean, School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, University of California, San Diego
Presentation
Susan Helper
Frank Tracy Carlton Professor of Economics, Weatherhead School of Management - Case Western Reserve University
Howard Wial
Former Brookings Expert
Panel Discussion
Robert D. Atkinson
Former Brookings Expert
President - Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
Dan Breznitz
Associate Professor, The College of Management and the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs
Erica R.H. Fuchs
Professor, Engineering and Public Policy - Carnegie Mellon University
Elisabeth B. Reynolds
Executive Director, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future - Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Josh Whitford
Associate Professor of Sociology
Keynote Speaker
Irwin Jacobs
Co-founder and Former Chairman, Qualcomm
More Information
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