The Milken Institute is out this week with a new report, which can be read as a companion piece of sorts to this recent release.
The new text is titled, "Manufacturing 2.0: A More Prosperous California." Written by Ross C. DeVol, Perry Wong, Armen Bedroussian, Candice Flor Hynek and David Rice, the report details the state's -- and the nation's -- loss of manufacturing jobs, analyzes the impact of those losses, and makes recommendations on how to alter that trend.
In the subsection titled, "A Call to Action for California," the authors lay out nine bullet-pointed "principles" -- calling for "broad economic reforms," for instance; and "public-private partnerships;" and "encouraging environmentally sustainable manufacturing processes...."
Later, a conclusion to the chapter, "Turning the Tide: Investing in Manufacturing" reads:
"California's manufacturing industry, although in decline, holds the key to the state's economic growth. The state's global reputation as the cradle of American ingenuity begins with California's manufactures and depends on their capacity to compete. Manufacturing increases overall economic growth, pays higher wages, and drives overall exports. Therefore, as a critical engine of economic growth and a frequesnt catalyst for innovation, the decline of the state's manufacturing industry is the canary in the coal mine for the California economy as a whole."
The report was financed in part by the California Manufacturers & Technology Assocation. Milken is upfront about that connection, noting it clearly on page 3 of the report and in an executive summary.
The 96-page report -- about half of which are appendices -- as well as the summary, and data sets used in the creation of the work, are all available for free-of-charge download. A print copy of the report is also available.
Photo Credit: The image accompanying this post was taken by Flickr user adobemac. It was used under Creative Commons license.
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Jeremy, how much do you think Public Policy Think Tanks are influenced by their financers? In this case, are the researchers obligated to arrive at conclusions that would bolster the CM&TA argument? If the Milken Institute instead found that manufacturing was a sector best left to the scrapyards, would the report have come out at all?
KCET Maxwell,
Thank you for your post.
By most accounts, a hallmark of the best-regarded tanks, and of most legitimate research, is independence.
In the same manner in which your handle would seem to follow accepted protocol by clearly identifying your own working relationship with KCET, Milken likewise made apparent its relationship with this funder. Both actions should be commended.
That said, obviously, if reasonable people perceive even the potential for a pro-funder bias in an institution -- or an individual -- then the impact of a report, or a user comment, or otherwise, can be diluted or ignored.
TTLA will pass along your comment to the MI and to the CM and post any reply.
In the meanwhile, to state the obvious, keep in mind the constant balancing act that so many non-profits (and for-profit, such as newspapers) institutions of public trust perform. What affect, if any, do university funders, museum funders, public television funders, to name just a few, have on the expertise, experience, and outcome of the work of the professional staffs of these institutions and their outside affiliated experts?
Way less than a complete cynic or conspiracy theorist would think. But certainly, more than none.
Apropos of nothing in particular, here are a handful of URLs for your possible interest:
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/343/22/1616
http://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/?article=180
http://www.milkeninstitute.org/support/support.taf?function=mia
http://www.rand.org/giving/
http://www.asne.org/ideas/codes/losangelestimes.htm
Thank you again,
TTLA
quick update, 7/2/09...
While no immediate email reply from either Milken or California Manufacturing, here's another link to a post that covers in some ways the same sort of ground that some of KCET Maxwell's questions at least appear to be getting at:
http://kcet.org/local/blogs/think_tank_la/2009/07/heritage-as-climate-lobby-group.html