We are overwhelmed by the swift decline of the manufacturing sector of the economy. I have always bought into the notion of a 50-year transition in economic predominance in America. History witnessed this transition from our economy relying on the farm towards manufacturing from the end of the 1800s to after the Depression. The percentage of families on the farm decreased significantly. Incomes went down for a portion of that transition and then started to rise with the full engagement of the new sector. Likewise, the span of manufacturing strength went from the Depression to the oil embargo of the early 1970s. Again incomes went down and then started to rise with the full engagement of the new sector. Today we are in midstream of a change to the information/service age that started in the mid-’70s and will continue to around 2025. Again our incomes are declining and our national equilibrium is out of whack. With each transition our nation experienced a larger than life economic recession/depression. The depression of the late 1880s; the depression of the ’30s; the post oil embargo challenges of the 1970s and early ’80s and the current meltdown of the first part of the 21st century.    

We need to remember each sector change in America saw us embrace a forward looking strategy or solution to our national predicament. The early 1900s saw the progressive era. The 1930s saw the New Deal. The 1960s saw the Great Society and today we have our government shaping a new platform for a new era... Our national government played a central role in each of these periods and in each period a current of naysayers shared their doubts and fears.

On a personal note, I recall a period in my youth when our society was debating the worth and merits of what we now call Medicare. Like today, there were some that firmly shared their belief that America was morphing towards socialism. In the end it passed both the immediate test of value and the long-term acceptance of a required solution for America. I do not know of any individuals today who would rescind that compact with our oldest citizens.

As in other periods in our history it is vital that again we “set the table” with solutions to support the transition of our society from manufacturing to information/service. A successful change for our citizens requires a portable and accessible health system in a world that no longer has lifelong employment. A successful change for our citizens requires an educational focus in our society on jobs of the informational/service variety. A successful change for our citizens requires a long-term focus on energy.

This setting of the table is not socialism but effective government policy and programs for a new age. The private sector has a critical role in that journey but government policy assists our society in releasing the possibilities.