Fighting for Capitalism's Cutting Edge: The Post-Industrial Campaign For American Competitiveness

Abstract

“Fighting for Capitalism’s Cutting Edge” argues that during the 1980s, amid concerns over waning competitiveness vis à vis Japan, there existed a real and viable alternative to the prevailing economic paradigms—Cold War Keynesianism, Reaganomics, and the emerging so-called neoliberal agenda. Central to this alternative was strategic federal investment in burgeoning sectors of the economy, intended to fortify the United States’ international standing in the impending technology-centric economic era. Although the Democrats were particularly influential in advocating such investments, Republicans also supported positive government investment in the name of competitiveness whenever the president’s approval numbers dwindled and his strategists felt it necessary to respond to business lobbyists advocating industrial policy. Within certain business lobbying organizations like the Council on Competitiveness, the appeal to maintain U.S. competitiveness bridged business and labor interests – and traditional and emergent industrial sectors – over the necessity of positive government investment. The focus on competitiveness during the 1980s catalyzed policy shifts that laid the groundwork for the economic developments of the 1990s and realigned the locus of economic power in the United States towards the “sunrise” champions of the often-invoked “New Economy.”