Jobs Are Up, but Is the U.S. Competitive Enough?

Oct. 07, 2007 -- This week, Opportunity 08 takes a closer look at how the next president can focus on integrated regional economies and help produce the talent needed to keep the United States competitive in the 21st century.

Last week, the Labor Department reported that employment rates rose in August and September. President Bush reacted by saying, "It's an indicator that this economy is a vibrant and strong economy," and gave the nation's economic health a thumbs up.

But policy experts say there's reason to worry. National prosperity is driven by regional economics and in this new age of globalization and knowledge-based economies the outlook for many regions isn't good.

John Austin leads the Great Lakes Economic Initiative at the Brookings Institution — focusing on the 12-state region that reaches from Buffalo, N.Y., and Pittsburgh in the east, to Minneapolis-St. Paul and St. Louis in the west.

"America's Great Lakes region is losing ground rapidly," said Austin. "Some parts of the region, such as Chicago and the Twin Cities, are thriving in the knowledge economy, while other communities, like Buffalo, Detroit, Cleveland and Milwaukee, are losing jobs, talent and economic vitality."

Austin and other experts say presidential candidates' investment strategies should seek to nurture regional economies.

"At this critical moment, federal investment in U.S. competitiveness lacks a regional focus," said Bruce Katz, vice president and director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution. "The next president should recognize the Great Lakes region's national economic importance and adopt policies that speed its economic transition and growth."

Opportunity 08 aims to help 2008 presidential candidates and the public focus on critical issues facing the nation, presenting policy ideas on a wide array of domestic and foreign policy questions. The project is committed to providing both independent policy solutions and background material on issues of concern to voters.

Katz and Austin recommend tapping the Great Lakes region's talent pool. "America is losing its dominance in science and engineering," said Katz. "But much of the infrastructure needed to educate more American scientists, teachers, engineers and mathematicians already exists in the learning institutions of the Great Lakes region."

"The Great Lakes region is ideally suited as a test case," Austin said. He stresses that growth in regions like the Great Lakes are key to keeping America's economy competitive and serve as "laboratories of democracy," inventing new models for industry, education, social security and workplace organization.

A full version of this proposal, as well as supporting background material, is available at www.opportunity08.org.

About the Experts and the Project

John C. Austin is a nonresident senior fellow at Brookings. He is also a senior fellow with the University of Michigan's School of Education. He is an expert on various topics that include international and national economics, higher education and work force policy, and urban policy. His previous positions include policy director for the Michigan Lieutenant Governor's Commission on Higher Education and Economic Growth.

Paul Dimond is senior counsel at Miller Canfield. He practices in the areas of public law, business services and finance, venture funding and start-ups, real estate finance, and product litigation and torts. In 1993, he was appointed by President Clinton to serve in the White House as special assistant to the president for economic policy. In 2003, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm appointed Dimond to her Council of Economic Advisors and named him chair of its Business Growth and Entrepreneurship Committee.

Bruce Katz is Brookings vice president and founding director of the Metropolitan Policy Program. His expertise includes major demographic, market, development and governance trends affecting cities and metropolitan areas. Katz was chief of staff to former U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry G. Cisneros, and staff director of the Senate Subcommittee on Housing and Urban Affairs.

Opportunity 08 aims to help 2008 presidential candidates and the public focus on critical issues facing the nation, presenting policy ideas on a wide array of domestic and foreign policy questions. The project is committed to providing both independent policy solutions and background material on issues of concern to voters.