, Columnist
Four Ways to Help the Midwest
A rebirth based on infrastructure, universities, small business and urban renewal holds promise.
Start over.
Photographer: Bryan Mitchell/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
When big Midwestern states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Ohio voted for Donald Trump, they chose to roll the economic dice. It’s not clear yet whether President-elect Trump will or can follow through on his promises to revamp U.S. trade policy. It’s even more dubious whether that will have any kind of positive effect on the Midwest. But it’s obvious that his promises resonated with a lot of people in that region.
There are a number of economic and political lessons to take away from Trump’s Midwestern conquests, but the first one should be that the Midwest needs help.