Economics is more than Money - Michigan is still relevant.

I have always been a free market guy. But..  Sometimes it’s more than that.

In the 1940s, Michigan stood tall as the arsenal of democracy. Factories from Detroit to Lansing didn’t just build cars—they became the beating heart of the world’s greatest war machine. General Motors alone cranked out 206,000 aircraft engines, over 13,000 Navy planes, 38,000 tanks, and more than 850,000 military trucks. This was more than manufacturing—it was an industrial miracle powered by resources we had right here at home, by skilled workers, and yes—by the original Rosie the Riveters who stepped up when America needed them most.

Michigan was ready. Our factories could pivot. Our people were trained. Even years later, one of my brothers, combing through a closed Oldsmobile plant in Lansing during the 1980s, stumbled upon engineering drawings—blueprints—for fighter aircraft tucked away on the factory floor. That legacy wasn’t just steel and grease—it was readiness. Cool stuff.

Fast-forward to today, and the picture is starkly different.

During my maritime training in the 1980s, I saw firsthand how America’s shipbuilding infrastructure had dwindled to a few scattered facilities. That trend has only worsened. Today, the U.S. Navy aims to grow its fleet from 296 to 381 ships over the coming decades, but the goal is hampered by chronic workforce shortages, tangled supply chains, and budget chaos. Even the watchdogs at the GAO recently warned that U.S. shipbuilding is in a “perpetual state of triage.”

And why? Because somewhere along the way, we traded in the grit of industry for the glitter of ideology. Our universities have become more obsessed with feelings than with forging the next generation of engineers, machinists, and builders. We’ve stopped building—not just things, but capacity, durability, and confidence.

Now, President Trump’s tariffs are making headlines. Critics cry foul, pointing to economic ripple effects. But let’s be clear about what’s really happening. These tariffs—targeting sectors like electronics, cosmetics, and the fluff that clutters our shelves—aren’t the gut-punch to the economy some claim. They’re a calculated move to remind us of something we’ve forgotten: when you depend on a global supply chain for essentials, you don’t own your future.

Take Apple. With over 50% tariffs looming on Chinese goods, production costs for iPhones and other gadgets may rise. Boo-hoo. We’ve grown too soft on the idea that $1,200 phones are our birthright, while we’ve let the production of critical components—like semiconductors—slip from our shores entirely.

And that brings us to Taiwan.

This tiny island—just 20 miles off the coast of communist China—produces over 90% of the world’s advanced computer chips. These chips run our phones, our fighter jets, our banks, and our infrastructure. We are utterly dependent. And China knows it.

Taiwan’s semiconductor dominance has long been called its “Silicon Shield.” But the shield is fragile, and the enemy is probing. Military flyovers, cyber interference, trade blockades—Beijing is testing our will. And if they move on Taiwan, what then? Will we wait six months for the next batch of processors while our economy grinds to a halt?

This is not just economics. It is national security.

Our manufacturing base—once the marvel of the world—is now a shadow. We must rebuild it. And that means rethinking trade. Free trade in theory sounds noble. In practice, it has hollowed out our small towns, shuttered our factories, and turned American companies into logistics hubs for foreign goods.

Trump’s approach, though bold and brash, forces a necessary confrontation: Do we want to be a nation of app developers and social media influencers, or do we want to build things again?

The reciprocal agreements free-traders long for can still happen—but from a position of strength, not dependency. Manufacturing is not just about profit margins. It’s about readiness. It’s about national morale. And yes, it’s about jobs—in Michigan and beyond.

We need skilled trades. We need vocational pride. We need a new generation of Rosies, Riveters, and Ready Hands—men and women who know how to weld a hull, wire a jet, and shape steel with the precision and purpose our grandparents took for granted.

America was once the builder of the free world. It’s time we remember what that felt like.

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