Trump\'s anti-globalization message resonates in \'forgotten\' Pennsylvania town
ID: 1155676 • Letter: T
Question
Trump's anti-globalization message resonates in 'forgotten' Pennsylvania town When Lou Mavrakis graduated from high school six decades ago, he went to work in a local steel mill. He earned a good wage and built a sturdy middle class life. That's the way things worked in Monessen, a small city along the Monongahela River 30 miles south of Pittsburgh. Mavrakis, now 79, is the mayor today of a very different place. Monessen's population has dropped from 18,000 in 1960 to 7,500 in 2015, the local tax base has dried up, and the city's major steel mill closed in the 1980s. This is where the blast furnaces were, over there, blast furnace over here, said Mavrakis, driving around and pointing toward an empty landscape. The mills here once supplied steel for the Golden Gate Bridge. Mavrakis, known locally as Mayor Lou, drives past rows of boarded-up homes with broken and blown-out windows. He said the city now has 400 blighted homes and 30 abandoned downtown buildings. He doesn't have money to tear them down. "All beautiful homes up here at one time when I was a kid. Now look at it, unreal. Just look, look at all this garbage. Forgotten world, that's what we are. Just look," said Mavrakis. "Does this look like the best country in the world to live in?" Parts of city streets are also caving in leaving gaping, exposed holes. There are some nice parts of town, but the mayor said he needs tens of millions to restore basic needs in his city. He and others in Monessen are angry for being left behind in the age of globalization "Global economy my ass," said Mavrakis. "What has it done for us? Nothing." The life-long Democrat said he appealed to members of Congress and has written three letters to President Barack Obama asking for help. But nobody responds. He's desperate. So he reached out to Donald Trump. "T'll reach out to Putin if I have to; what would you do if you were in my situation?" Trump answered the call and came to Monessen in late June. He made some bold promises to put America first. Trump said, "This wave of globalization has wiped out totally, totally, our middle class. It doesn't have to be this way. We can turn it around, and we can turn it around fast." The mayor liked what he was hearing. Why would you take care of other countries and let your country go like this? And you've been around, my city is not the only one," said Mavrakis.Explanation / Answer
I do not agree with Lou Mavrakis that President Trump can bring back the USA steel of 1980s. It is simply not possible because a lot has happened since that time period. Let us assume for a while that enacting tariffs on foreign steel encourages investment in the US. Such projects involve long gestation period and can take years before the returns show up. If the next President rolls back the tariffs then it won't make any sense for the investors.
However, the most important reason here is automation. The technical progress has reduced the role of labor in these plants. The mechanization has replaced the labor and its a global phenomena. So even if steel firms return back, they may not really contribute to employment in the economy. Also, USA will need engage in prolonged negotiations at the WTO which again can be counterproductive. Overall, the tariffs may not actually save USA steel industry.