Factory Jobs Aren’t the Future Working Americans Want

View this email in your browser

Progress Report

News, events, and must-read analysis from the Progressive Policy Institute.

Factory Jobs Aren’t the Future Working Americans Want

By Will Marshall
President and Founder of the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI)
for The Hill

Undaunted by his predecessor’s failure to spark a manufacturing renaissance, President Trump also dreams of reindustrializing America. He won’t succeed either, because no president has the power to undo a half-century of post-industrial evolution.

Why have our two oldest presidents fixated on “bringing back” factory jobs? Both grew up in the ‘50s, when the United States bestrode a war-ravaged world like an industrial colossus. But the answer isn’t just nostalgia for a lost “golden age.”

There’s also a pervasive feeling that our country owes a promissory note to working families hit hard by deindustrialization. The disappearance of manufacturing jobs with decent pay and benefits — traditionally their ticket from high school to the middle class — has undermined their living standards and social standing.

KEEP READING

Forward

New from the Experts

Listen: Claire Ainsley, Director of the Project on Center-Left Renewal: Lessons for Global Centre-Left Parties from Labor’s Win
⮕ ABC Australia (Podcast)

Listen: Ben Ritz, Vice President of Policy Development: Breaking Down the Big Beautiful Bill
⮕ T he New Liberal Podcast

Listen: Ben Ritz, Vice President of Policy Development, talks about the Big Beautiful Bill on The Julie Mason Show
⮕ SiriusXM

Will Marshall, President: ‘It’s a winner for him’: Dems work to turn LA debate from immigration to Trump’s executive powers
⮕ Politico

David Osborne, Director Emeritus of Reinventing America’s Schools: Red States’ School Vouchers Mark Biggest Shift in U.S. Education in a Century
⮕ T he 74

Richard D. Kahlenberg, Director of Housing Policy and the American Identity Project: What Happens if ‘Harvard Is Not Harvard’?
⮕ N ew York Times

Nancy Tung and Eric Kingsbury: What National Dems Can Learn From San Francisco
⮕ RealClearPolitics

NEW PPI REPORTS

As concerns about a slowing economy mount, a new report from the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) highlights counties where the tech, information, and e-commerce (TIE) sector is driving growth.

A new PPI report from VP and Chief Economist Michael Mandel identifies the top U.S. counties by their ability to create new TIE jobs relative to overall employment. The findings suggest that regions with a strong TIE presence are not only generating high-paying jobs more rapidly, but also fueling broader economic expansion.

Apprenticeship degrees anchor postsecondary education to paid workplace learning under the guidance of experienced mentors, establishing paid employment as a key component of the degree. The wages offset college expenses, enabling students to graduate with little to no debt, making the degree affordable. Students also receive academic credit for their on-the-job experiences and related classroom instruction, which leads to a degree over a period of two to six years, depending on the program.

Subscribe to our newsletters!

Ed Gresser: One U.S. measles death from 2000 to 2024; three so far this year
⮕ PPI's Trade Fact of the Week

Ben Ritz & Alex Kilander: Senate Changes to House Reconciliation Bill Are a Mixed Bag
⮕ PPI’s Budget Breakdown

Staff Spotlight: Bruno Manno

Senior Advisor

Bruno V. Manno is Senior Advisor and leads the What Works Lab at the Progressive Policy Institute. He came to PPI from the Walton Family Foundation, where he was Senior Adviser for Education. Prior to that, he was Senior Associate for Education with the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

He has held senior positions with several education nonprofits and policy organizations, also serving as US Assistant Secretary of Education for Policy and Planning. He is a contributor writing about education on Forbes.com and the author or co-author of articles and books including Charter Schools in Action, Charter Schools at the Crossroads, and The Opportunity to Rise.

Get Social

FOLLOW PPI

Copyright © 2025 Progressive Policy Institute, All rights reserved.
You're receiving this email because you opted in to receiving emails from the Progressive Policy Institute.

Our mailing address is:

Progressive Policy Institute

1919 M St NW Ste 300

Washington, DC 20036

Add us to your address book

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.