Caught in the Middle: America's Heartland in the Age of Globalism

by Richard C. Longworth

Book Overview

The Midwest has always been the heart of America-both its economic bellwether and the repository of its national identity. Now, in a new, globalized age, the Midwest is challenged as never before.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1596914130
• ISBN13: 9781596914131
• Release Date: December 2007
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• Length: 307 Pages
• Weight: 1.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.5" x 9.7"

Customer Reviews

A wakeup call for the mid west, and by extension the US

"Caught in the Middle" by Richard Longworth is a trenchant analysis of the Midwest in the age of globalisation. Throughout the book, Mr Longworth takes great pains to show how most of the midwest has not thrived and how the policies of the past are not the policies of the 21st century. The line walked is very fine, and every corner, every sacred cow, gets its good and bad points exposed. From unions that brought us weekends and living wages to unions that resisted change and eventually cost jobs; to global commerce that builds up Chicago and Madison but crushes Detroit and Cleveland; to immigration saving towns that embrace it and killing towns that do not. Nothing escapes scrutiny. At the end of the day, Mr Longworth keeps coming back to a similar theme; the boot strap, by yourself, anti education, anti immigration, it worked in the past it will work in the future attitude is killing large portions of the midwest. Again and again he shows how the policies of the past; depending on companies supporting towns, tax breaks for manufacturing, anti education and anti immigration and an inability to work together; are not the policies that will lead this region to the promised land. He does offer a few ideas that could help the region. The biggest is simply getting the region to work as one area. This will not be easy, but if they can stop competing with each other and instead compete with the world, they would all benefit. Additionally he shows how immigration; both white collar and blue collar, does save the region. Finally he talks about how the region is wasting its huge university system and how the anti education/anti science policies are driving their best and brightest to the coasts. Addressing these problems may not completely turn the region around, but they would be a huge step in the right direction. There is a lot of pride in the midwest present throughout this book. Mr Longworth is from there and he loves his home. This is his wakeup call; there is nothing new is this book however its one of the first times it has been presented so completely and so well. A highly enjoyable read.

Great description of a sad piece of history

The Midwest - particularly the rural Midwest has provided a significant part of the historical underpinnings of the US and the US Economy. However, because local, regional and state governments can't get their acts together to cooperate, we sink into the morass of unemployment, unmet expectation and decline. Mr. Longworth makes a great case for working together, like other parts of the US. However, knowing the political leaders in this area, hope will only spring eternal and love will remain unrequited.

Great Book . . . Troubling Book

"Caught in the Middle" is a fascinating look at what is happening to the Midwest's economy. It is both scary, and at the same time, hopeful. Richard Longworth offers a research based analysis of the attitudes and practices that are keeping the Midwest from becoming a leader in the global economy. The book is brutally honest in its assessment of what will happen to individuals and communities that do not become risktakers and acquire the education necessary for highly skilled professions. If midwestern states will cooperate and if the major research universities work together, there is hope.

a book for its time

CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE By Richard C. Longworth Reviewed by A. J. Goldsmith What parts of our Middle West are ready for the challenges of globalization? What parts aren't? Veteran reporter Richard C. Longworth drove more than 11,000 miles throughout the Midwestern states of Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri and Ohio. The result of his journey is a must- read book for our elected and wannabe-public officials, for university and college leaders and for the rest of us, Midwesterners who are "Caught in the Middle." The subtitle is "America's Heartland in the Age of Globalism." In every one of its 14 chapters, Longworth, a retired, award-winning, global correspondent for The Chicago Tribune, slays the dragons that are close to every heart in Middle America and sets out the challenges now facing us. "By nature, Midwesterners can be aloof and uncommunicative that nature is hurting them now," the author a native of Boone, Iowa, says. He finds that much of the region is in denial when it comes to coping with the present. Longworth spares no feelings as he lays out what is not being done in Middle America to meet global competition, what is being ignored in this 21st century battle for economic survival and what can be accomplished if state boundaries are ignored, if universities limit competition to athletics broadening cooperation in many other areas and if truly, comprehensive planning is begun. Longworth says: "The Midwest does two things for a living--farming and heavy industry--and globalization has turned both upside down." The author found dying farm towns and crumbling old factory towns. Forget them, he says. Don't throw money at them. Let them go. There is a new economy to prepare for. He spares no sympathy for Detroit and Cleveland, just two of several cities that have withered. He totally writes off many other towns that have seen their manufacturing jobs move first to southern states, then to Mexico and now to China. White collar jobs have moved to India and even to Dominican Republic. Ann Arbor with the University of Michigan's brainpower is the new center for the auto industry, leaving Detroit far behind. Longworth says that Gary, Indiana, is a "slum" where 10 workers produce as much steel as 100 workers did 25 years ago. "Indiana people seem to be content to be mediocre people living in mediocre cities," Longworth charges. Dying also are Indiana's auto-industry-dependent cities of Muncie, Anderson, Kokomo and Marion. And then there is Warsaw, Indiana, and Kalamazoo, Michigan, where the production of orthopedics is centered. High school students in Warsaw learn skills that will aid them in the production of orthopedics. Not always negative, Longworth points to Greenville, Michigan, where 2,781 jobs were lost when Electrolux joined other companies that left earlier. Greenville only had 8,000 people. Now the first of six solar-panel plants is under construction and all are expected

Review of" Caught in the Middle"

This books tells more about what's going on in America today than anything I've ever read. Longworth's descriptions of the economic upheaval in the Mid-West apply just as well to other areas such as New England where I live. Most valuable are his analysyes of the the communities and the companies that reside in them that have learned to thrive in the new global economy - Chicago, Ann Arbor, Peoria, Columbus (Indiana), and Madison (Wisconsin). His comments on education are right on target - the community colleges are providing the training needed by the new workforce. This is must reading for anyone who is concerned about the country's prosperity. William Saunders Whately, MA