Why Chasing Manufacturing Jobs Is a Slow and Expensive Strategy Compared to Call Centers For decades, policymakers have treated manufacturing jobs as the gold standard of economic development. New factories are announced with great fanfare, politicians hold ribbon-cutting ceremonies, and communities compete to attract large industrial projects with tax incentives, infrastructure grants, and other forms of public support. The logic behind these investments is easy to understand. Manufacturing has historically been associated with economic growth, stable employment, and middle-class wages. Factories often become major employers within a region and can serve as anchors for local economies. However, there is another...

When society values the right to own a gun over the right to have a child grow up, a paradigm shift must occur. Walk through any American elementary school and you’ll find tiny backpacks hanging in cubbies, crayon drawings on the walls, and too often now laminated “active shooter” instructions taped next to the fire escape plan. Our children practice hiding from bullets the way previous generations practiced duck-and-cover drills or tornado drills. And still, every time another shooting makes headlines, we’re told that changing gun laws is “too political,” “too soon,” or “an attack on freedom.” Meanwhile, the body...