Donald Trump won the Rust Belt states by promising to bring manufacturing jobs back to the Rust Belt. Forbes has provided a score card so that Trump supporters in the Rust Belt can keep score of the number of manufacturing jobs, which were lost to automation and outsourcing, come back to America under The Donald's regime. If you look at the graph provided by Forbes, you will see that the loss in manufacturing jobs accelerated between between 2000 and the financial crisis in 2008. That took place during the Bush Administration when his policies were similar to those proposed by Trump. Bush cut taxes for the rich and he reduced government regulations which were presumed to be stifling innovation. During the Obama Administration the loss of manufacturing jobs decelerated and there was a slight uptick in manufacturing jobs.
Donald Trump has told two big lies to his desperate supporters in the Rust Belt. The first lie was to blame the loss of manufacturing jobs on the Obama Administration. The second big lie is to promise that a return to George Bush's policies will bring back the lost jobs. Most of Trump's supporters are less interested in facts than in hopeful promises made by The Donald. In any case, Forbes will continue to publish the scorecard for those who want to keep score. Trump's cabinet choices suggest that he is focused on stimulating the energy industry. That will be good for Texas, Oklahoma and in shale drilling areas but it won't do much for the coal industry. The declining cost of other energy sources, like natural gas, will continue to reduce mining jobs in Appalachia.
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