Toward a Postindustrial Politics

The most important political issue—in peacetime—is always the economy. This basic truth will only intensify over the coming decade, as the United States continues its painful transition from an industrial economy built on assembly-line manufacturing in large, stable firms, to a rapidly changing, knowledge-based economy built upon technological innovation. “Economic competitiveness” has already emerged as the leading theme of the 1988 presidential election. Once the election is over and the next recession begins, it will become a national obsession.

This is the ground on which American politics will be fought in the 1990s. Although we cannot agree on what to call the new era— the “postindustrial economy,R...