What should the manufacturing community expect from Barack Obama once he takes office next month as the nation's 44th president?
At the very least, manufacturers should expect a hearing to outline both the challenges and strengths of the industrial sector in the U.S. economy and the role manufacturing must play in helping the country work its way out of the recession. At the most, the new president can put the idea of global manufacturing competitiveness on the front burner and help pave the way to a better future for industry.
The problems of the U.S. economy, as inauguration day approaches, are huge and complex. The issues facing the financial sector alone — monetary policy, Wall Street governance, credit markets, and the list goes on — would be enough to dominate any new administration. Add concerns over employment, healthcare, energy, environmental protection, and education, to name just the most prominent social issues, and what emerges is a multi-front war that President Obama will have to figure out how to manage.
Compounding the new president's challenge is the fact that the financial industry meltdown has now spilled over into other sectors of the economy, including retail, travel, and transportation, creating a chain reaction. The automobile industry's travails, although long in the making, have been accentuated by the economic crisis. But the problems of the auto industry might just serve a purpose in exposing the need for a broader national conversation about the future of U.S. manufacturing.