Noah Smith, Columnist

Trump's Plan to Bring Back Manufacturing Isn't Crazy

Reshoring production would be good for the economy. Just don't expect a boom in blue-collar jobs.

March 9, 2017 at 4:57 PM UTC

Noah Smith is a former Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He was an assistant professor of finance at Stony Brook University, and he blogs at Noahpinion.

Even if the factories re-opened, don't expect a jobs boom.
Photographer: Michael S. Williamson/washington post/getty images

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The head of President Donald Trump's National Trade Council, Peter Navarro, has been making waves recently, with an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal and a speech to the National Association of Business Economists.

The bad news is that Navarro still uses some dodgy economics when arguing for lower trade deficits. As I explained last December, lowering trade deficits doesn't necessarily give gross domestic product a boost. Navarro should stop using this talking point.