Jerry Jasinowski

One reason for the stubbornly high unemployment rate, and one that does not get much attention, is the steady loss of government jobs, especially at the state and local level. Overall government employment has declined 2.6 percent in the last three years. And the pace seems to be picking up....

We can make a major dent in the jobless rate by providing unemployed workers with the skills they need to fill an estimated 600,000 vacancies in manufacturing today -- a number that continues to grow. Filling this gap in our education/training matrix would also strengthen manufacturing and make it more...

"Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink," lamented Coleridge's ancient mariner. Investors looking for long-term growth prospects might want to consider the pending water crisis, and promising developments in conservation and desalination technology.

Worldwide water use is growing twice as fast as population. An estimated one billion people today...

Despite a slow growth global environment, a manufacturing renaissance is underway, abetted by a relatively weak dollar, the collapse of the price of natural gas, and -- most importantly -- efforts by manufacturing companies to be globally competitive. The results are greater productivity, dramatic increases in profits and a fanatical...

The precipitous decline of natural gas prices -- to less than $2 per 1,000 cubic feet for the first time in a decade -- promises to be a real game changer for U.S. manufacturing, and indeed the overall economy. The comparable price in Europe is $11 and in South Korea...

I've just spent an interesting weekend with a group of CEOs discussing the global economic outlook, and how firms are striving to compete and grow in a challenging economic environment. They described a world of rapid change, financial and stock market volatility, and uncertainty. On balance, they are fairly upbeat...

"Do Manufacturers Need Special Treatment," was the headline of a commentary by Christina D. Romer, who chaired President Obama's Council of Economic Advisors, in the New York Times earlier this year. An economist, Romer made it clear she regarded manufacturing as just another sector of the economy....

In a perfect world, no economist who has never visited a modern industrial workplace or spent time with real world business executives would be allowed to write commentaries about the state of manufacturing.

Alas, we do not live in a perfect world. Over the past decade and counting, as...

President Obama seems determined to make China's trade policies a major theme of his reelection campaign, and if so, I say bring it on. China's predatory trade policies have been a key factor in the weakness of our overall economy.

In the space of one generation, the Chinese...

The polarization of our political system is a source of continuing frustration to most Americans who are more concerned about sensible governance than ideological posturing. Polls confirm that the vast majority of citizens are in the political middle, but they have no voice in Washington. Something is badly out of...

This may sound a bit hard to believe, but I predict we will see genuine bipartisan legislation in Congress this year that will do wonders to revive economic growth and create jobs -- even though bipartisanship is an endangered species in Washington, and even though this is an election year....

The U.S. economy is gathering momentum and the key driver is manufacturing. Not only is our industrial sector growing, but after more than a decade of losses in manufacturing jobs, we are actually going in the other direction. We added 50,000 manufacturing jobs in January on top of 32,000 the...

Last year, the British government -- facing the same kind of deficit/fiscal crisis that has ensnarled the United States and the European Union -- undertook a dramatic program of austerity designed to get its fiscal affairs under control. The government raised taxes and imposed draconian spending cuts across the board....

The New Year got off to a strong start as economic indicators and the stock market both have performed better than expected. The question is -- how much of this reflects fundamental economic strength and how much of it is due to the flood of liquidity that central bankers around...

In listening to President Obama's State of the Union address, I could not help feeling that he had missed a golden opportunity -- to launch a visionary manufacturing agenda, to launch a long term deficit reduction strategy and thereby increase growth and create jobs. Not a bad reelection strategy.

...

Last year, we became acquainted with the concept of "black swans," those unforeseen calamities that tend to spring upon us at inopportune moments throwing everyone and everything into a tizzy. The earthquake, tsunami and nuclear power plant meltdown in Japan for example. Permit me to postulate three black swans that...

A group of prominent Senators went to visit President Abraham Lincoln to demand the replacement of General George McClellan, commander of the Army of the Potomac, who was reluctant to fight the rebels. Lincoln inquired who the Senators would suggest to replace McClellan, pointing out that despite his inaction, McClellan...

"Never predict anything," said the movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn, "especially the future." Goldwyn's advice is especially pertinent given the high degree of uncertainty we face in the coming year, but let me offer a few observations on which way the wind is blowing.

The U.S. economy is entering the New...

President Obama's announcement last week that Commerce Secretary John Bryson will join National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling as co-chair of a new White House Office of Manufacturing Policy offers a glimmer of hope that our government will finally get serious about promoting U.S. manufacturing.

The good news is we...

From time to time, I find it helpful to seek insight on how the economy is doing from people who are actually on the firing line -- business executives actively engaged in navigating today's turbulent economic waters. One such is David Rubenstein, founder of the Carlyle Group, a private equity...