Recommend books on de-industrialization in the U.S. and the government's response (or lack of same) to it

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Only if you want to though.

Anyway, I know there are more serious ways of approaching a search for this type of information, but I'm not doing heavy primary research, just interested in maybe reading a couple books on the subject. Especially interested in the way the loss of manufacturing jobs hit the inner city and the apparent complete inadequacy of any government response to that problem. Did this come to a head in the Reagan years, or was it already pretty much over by then?

― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Friday, 13 January 2006 01:55 (nineteen years ago)

"The government"--I am thinking mostly of the federal government, but would be interested in what was or wasn't done at other levels.

― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Friday, 13 January 2006 01:58 (nineteen years ago)

What?

My ex-roommate had some book about early communist societies in the US, if that's what you mean. But you seem to be talking about something else.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Saturday, 14 January 2006 08:49 (nineteen years ago)

Did this come to a head in the Reagan years, or was it already pretty much over by then?

I have no books to recommend, but supposedly the recession of 1982 was the straw that broke the camel's back as far as manufacturing jobs went here in MKE. I do remember reading an article in an anthology that claimed Paul Volcker intentionally provoked the recession in order to break the power of labor in the US, but I can't remember what anthology that was, sorry.

― Chris F. (servoret), Saturday, 14 January 2006 10:36 (nineteen years ago)

Has anyone been to Mass MOCA (museum of contemporary art) in North Adams? It's in the defunct Sprague Electric plant which used to provide most of the jobs in the town. Beautiful brick buildings on the Green River. Now they're full of weird-ass art, and it seems like a big fuck you to the townspeople. I spent my childhood in nearby Williamstown and am an artsy-type poser myself, but I think the town would have benefited more by the plant being turned into a tasteful Rouse company-style mall. I bet if you went to their website there'd be lots of links to info about the waning of industry in the area.

― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Saturday, 14 January 2006 16:15 (nineteen years ago)

No, but I've been to the Dia:Beacon, which is an old Nabisco [?] factory and which (a) is fantastic and (b) has turned Beacon into a thriving tourist town and boosted their economy.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Saturday, 14 January 2006 18:32 (nineteen years ago)

That whole area along the Hudson has been exploding lately anyway, with lots of people buying second homes there or moving out of the city. North Adams is a strangely cursed place and hasn't seemed to attact many dotcommers or fleeing urbanites even though the real estate is cheap and the setting is beautiful. Even when the factory was running it was always Williamstown's hardscrabble poor relation. The town center is not well laid out—as a matter of fact, there is no center. The buildings all have their backs and their parking lots facing rte 2, the main street. Hard to explain. And still badly depressed. We have friends from the Vineyard who bought a big old fixer-upper there and they keep coming back here for work. Hell of a commute.
Mass MOCA didn't provide many jobs, and people don't hang around in North Adams after they go there. There's one nice new restaurant.
Massachusetts is like that. One town poor, the next town over swanky. It's a checkerboard. Some of the depressed mill towns are just amazingly beautiful. Go figure.

― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Saturday, 14 January 2006 23:07 (nineteen years ago)

"america: what went wrong" covered some of that.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Monday, 16 January 2006 05:08 (nineteen years ago)

Hmmmmm.

America: What Went Wrong: Why Didn't We Learn From It?

(Or why didn't I learn from it?)

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions.

― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Tuesday, 17 January 2006 03:12 (nineteen years ago)

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