Over the last few years, Washington has prioritized relocating manufacturing production back to the United States. Critics abroad argue that America’s new industrial policy is protectionist and fosters unfair competition.
Economist Adam Posen goes a step further. He says the problem with U.S. policy isn’t just that it channels zero-sum thinking but that it is destined to backfire on a number of its goals, from job creation to innovation and decarbonization.
Posen argues that for U.S. industrial policy to be successful and resilient, it needs to be barrier free. How and why? Subscribers are encouraged to send in their questions. Posen will discuss his FP cover essay in a conversation with FP’s editor in chief, Ravi Agrawal.
Adam Posen
President, Peterson Institute for International Economics
Adam Posen is president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics. For three decades, he has researched and advised policymakers on the political economy of pro-growth policies—including industrial policy—in Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, and at the European Commission. He is the author or editor of seven books and numerous widely cited articles, including “The Price of Nostalgia” and “The End of Globalization?”
Host
Ravi Agrawal
Editor in chief, Foreign Policy
Ravi Agrawal is the editor in chief of Foreign Policy, the host of FP Live, and a regular world affairs analyst on TV and radio. Before joining FP in 2018, Agrawal worked at CNN for more than a decade in full-time roles spanning three continents, including as the network’s New Delhi bureau chief and correspondent. He has shared a Peabody Award and three Emmy nominations for his work as a TV producer, and his writing for FP was part of a series nominated for a 2020 National Magazine Award for columns and commentary. Agrawal is the author of India Connected: How the Smartphone Is Transforming the World’s Largest Democracy. He is a graduate of Harvard University.
