Who Is Industrial Policy Really For? (with Isabel Estevez)

Industrial policy is back at the center of the economic debate. But tariffs, factories, and reshoring are only part of the story. In this 2023 conversation, development economist Isabel Estevez joins Nick and Goldy to argue that industrial policy is ultimately about choices: what we produce, how we produce it, and who benefits. She explains why a smart industrial strategy has to look beyond manufacturing output to workers, communities, climate, public investment, and the broader public good.
Because the real debate isn’t whether the government shapes markets. It already does. The question is what—and who—we’re shaping them for.
This episode originally aired August 1, 2023.
Isabel Estevez is an institutional and development economist and Co-Executive Director of i3T—Industry, Infrastructures and Innovation for Strategic Transformation. She previously served as Deputy Director of Industrial Policy and Trade at the Roosevelt Institute and as a Senior Policy Advisor at the Sierra Club.
Further reading:
Using Industrial Policy for Productive Transformation: Three Lessons from Development Economics for US Industrial Strategy
How Can (Green) Industrial Policy Serve Human and Natural Flourishing?
Global Green Industrial Policy: Navigating Power Dynamics for a Pro-Working-Class, Pro-Development Green Transformation
The New Economics of Industrial Policy
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