In this cover article for New Labor Forum, Robert Pollin and Dean Baker ask: Can we establish a growth engine driven by something other than financial bubbles? Can we renew the automobile industry and, more generally, re-establish a healthy manufacturing sector? Can we accomplish these various tasks while also rebuilding the economy on a new foundation of clean energy as opposed to fossil fuel energy sources? Are all of these projects also compatible with expanding decent job opportunities throughout the U.S. economy?
The authors begin by looking back at the interaction between public and private investment, concluding that a healthy level of public investment acts as a springboard for private investors. They then review the effectiveness of federal industrial policy over the last few decades—particularly through the Pentagon—and assess the potential for federal government investments to stimulate employment.

Pollin & Baker lay out a specific plan to support the revival of the manufacturing sector, including the U.S. auto industry. They sketch a program to substantially increase the number of public transportation buses on the streets of our communities, and explore briefly a longer-term project of expanding U.S. manufacturing capacity in rail transportation products and the renewable energy industry.