US fixation on the hard-hat economy and making manufacturing great again makes little sense

The dream of greasy overalls is driven by nostalgia and doesn’t justify policies that harm US consumersThe exhortations to protect America’s industrial muscle have resonated in the US at least since maverick presidential candidate Ross Perot brought up the supposed “giant sucking sound” of jobs pulled to Mexico by the Nafta trade agreement back in 1993.They flourished under Donald Trump’s first presidency and his pr…