Manufacturing Job Loss in the Great Lakes Region

The Brookings Institution released a study on manufacturing jobs lost in the Great Lakes region. The numbers and findings are interesting: many of the nation's manufacturing jobs "lost" were in PA, OH, MI, WI, IN, IL, and NY.

The study also profiles Great Lakes metro areas, including the Allentown, Lancaster, Reading, Scranton, and York regions in Pennsylvania.

The study's recommendations are baffling though. They suggest that to grow manufacturing jobs we need:
1) Restrictions on Free Trade
2) Universal Health Care and
3) More state and federal "economic development" spending (i.e. corporate welfare).

What these seven states have in common (besides bordering a Great Lake and losing manufacturing jobs) are ranking high in regulation and low in economic freedom, high in spending per capita, and high in tax burden. Yet Brookings thinks they need more regulation, more spending, and more taxes to create jobs.