Pakistan Seeks Strategic Use of $27 Billion Remittances

Recent calls to revive American manufacturing jobs, particularly through protectionist trade policies and tariffs, are based on misconceptions about the nation's economic history and labor market. While political rhetoric often promises a return to an industrial golden age, historical evidence shows that manufacturing jobs have been in decline as a share of total US employment since the mid-20th century, replaced by a steadily growing service sector that has driven much of America's prosperity. The notion that bringing back factories will restore stable, well-paying jobs for the middle class ignores the reality that industrial work was often grueling, dangerous, and low-paid, and that today's advanced manufacturing is unlikely to provide the same broad employment opportunities. Moreover, many Americans already recognize that service jobs have long been central to national growth, and income gains have continued even as manufacturing has waned. These perspectives challenge the idea that protectionist policies will deliver the kind of broad-based economic revival their proponents claim. Instead, a nuanced understanding of America's economic evolution suggests a focus on adapting to current labor market realities rather than chasing a nostalgic past.