Presidential elections invariably turn out half-thought economic proposals. One current hot policy ticket is lavish tax advantages for manufacturers, presumably in hope of priming employment growth (and votes). President Obama, for example, proposes to reward manufacturing companies with a mix of tax credits and subsidized loans (i.e., politically directed credit). On the other side, Rick Santorum would absolve manufacturers from federal income tax altogether (i.e., politically directed credit, but through the US Treasury’s back door). Mitt Romney vows that “getting tough” on China will bring more work back to the shop floor (i.e., diplomatic bluster punctuated by a few WTO arbitrations). Slick stuff. But none of the contenders bother to articulate why singling out manufacturing for special treatment makes economic sense, especially for the rest of us. [cont…]