Loss of Area Industrial Jobs

Having just finished reading to my disappointment the front-page article (“McDonnell Unlikely to Build Jet in Long Beach,” March 12) on McDonnell Douglas’ likely move to an out-of-state site to manufacture the MD-12X, a passenger jetliner, a key question arises. When are our elected officials going to help stop California’s manufacturing hemorrhage? We read about members of Congress from the other 49 states lobbying to bring in industry to their districts, yet the visibility of our congressmen does not seem to be too great.

It’s predictable that only when California’s economy becomes dominated by the low-paid service sector will our elected representatives become “concerned.” Maybe they should take Economics I, where the first practical principle taught is that services create nothing, and that only through hard-core manufacturing (which does not preclude white-collar jobs--indeed, more white-collar jobs are created as a result) does an economy really experience growth.

KEVIN OLIVO, Rialto