Between 1977 and 1987, US industry reduced production jobs in manufacturing by 1.4 million workers. More than 200,000 - or 15% - of those jobs were in Ohio. Of those job losses, over half were centered in two industries - primary metals manufacturing and industrial machinery manufacturing - each losing more than 50,000 jobs over the decade.
In fact, the region’s new competitiveness could probably not have occurred were it not for the dramatic changes this area’s economy experienced in the 1980s. Is economic progress possible that does not make obsolete the methods and practices of the earlier, less efficient economy?