In Sand in the Gears, Andrew Smith argues that the US lost manufacturing not to forces beyond its control, such as globalisation and cheaper labour overseas, but as the result of misguided policies that are well within its abilities to reform for the benefit of manufacturing. Examining six areas of public policy—the tax system, health care, the legal system, workers’ compensation, government regulations, and labour policy—Smith demonstrates that in each of these areas, the current policy choices have created a hostile environment for manufacturing.