Paul Krugman drops a truth bomb about US manufacturing: No policy 'will bring back those lost jobs'

Economist Paul Krugman Friday poured cold water on Donald Trump’s pledge to bring back manufacturing jobs to the United States, explaining, “nothing policy can do will bring back those lost jobs.”

In a series of posts, Krugman wrote, “the story of U.S. manufacturing is basically one of high productivity growth allowing demand to be met with ever fewer workers,” followed by a graph demonstrating how an increase of output per person relates to labor productivity.

Bringing back manufacturing jobs was one of Trump’s integral campaign promises. Thursday, the president-elect tweeted he is “working hard, even on Thanksgiving, trying to get Carrier A.C. Company to stay in the U.S. (Indiana). MAKING PROGRESS - Will know soon!”

For all of Trump’s promises, Krugman notes that automation is the future of manufacturing, meaning even if the president-elect is successful at keeping factories in the United States, technological advances mean the industry will still see job loses as companies push to lower costs. “Nothing policy can do will bring back those lost jobs,” Krugman continued. “The service sector is the future of work; but nobody wants to hear it.”