An Economy in Deep Trouble

The direction of Robert Heilbroner’s “An Economy in Deep Trouble (Dissent, Fall 1992) is the need for “transformational growth,” to be achieved by a major public-works program and improved education, including a comprehensive apprenticeship system. The problem he sees is in “persuading the American public…and the elites…that a vigorous public sector is a legitimate part of modern capitalism.”

His prescription, it seems to me, does not adequately answer the problem. Consider this scenario: a class of newly hatched apprentices in various skilled trades emerges from the program, certificates in hand, looking forward to useful employment in industries producing cars, aircraft, air...