When New York passed a wave of new gun-control laws in January, it outlawed a type of assault rifle made just over an hour's drive from the state capital.

Ohio is on the economic mend — the Lordstown GM plant is humming, along with a brand new billion-dollar steel plant and the discovery of shale natural gas — but can Obama claim credit? Takeaway Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich talked with workers and undecided voters on this battleground to find out.

On March 5, 1853 a German piano maker named Henry Steinway (né Steinweg) founded Steinway & Sons at 85 Varick Street in New York City, barely five blocks from the present-day WNYC studios. Less than three months later another, much younger German piano maker named Helmuth Kranich would arrive at these shores. Little did he suspect that one of his children would someday work at a competing form of entertainment: radio, specifically WNYC.

The revival of American manufacturing has been a constant refrain in presidential campaigns, and 2012 is no exception. But does American manufacturing have a future? In a new book, "Producing Prosperity: Why America Needs a Manufacturing Renaissance," Harvard Business School professors Gary Pisano and Willy Shih argue that it must — and that manufacturing is the key to American innovation.

Ro Khanna, a former deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, argues that, despite everything you've heard about the economy, America continues to be a world leader in manufacturing. In Entrepreneurial Nation: Why Manufacturing is Still Key to America’s Future, he shows that innovative companies are staying ahead of the curve, and looks at why the American steel industry, aerospace companies, the defense technology sector are still world leaders.

Rob Schmitz, China correspondent of Martketplace, to talk about his recent visit to the Foxconn plant, and answer listener questions about electronics manufacturing in China

The Obama administration proposed an overhaul of the corporate tax code. He wants to cut the top corporate rate down to 28% in exchange for closing loopholes.

More goods are being produced in American factories that in recent decades, but employment in those same facilities is falling. Adam Davidson, co-founder and co-host of Planet Money, a co-production of NPR and This American Life, discusses the decline of American manufacturing jobs and looks at why the jobs crisis will be so difficult to solve. He's the author of "Making It in America," in the January/February issue of The Atlantic.

New York is a city of specialists from foodies to academics, laborers to shopkeepers. Every Wednesday, Niche Market will take a peek inside a different specialty store and showcase the city's purists who have made an art out of selling one commodity. Slideshow below.

The main focus of Tuesday’s State of the Union address was the economy and income inequality. Along with his ideas about taxation and protecting homeowners, president Obama also expressed a desire to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. Since the 1980s, the U.S. economy has shifted away from manufacturing and towards intellectual property and services. This has been due in part to the perceived expenses involved in production based in the U.S., as well as labor laws. 

Adam Davidson, co-host of NPR's "Planet Money", discusses his Atlantic cover story, which profiles a plant in South Carolina that may serve as a model for the future of manufacturing and job creation in the U.S.

Earlier this year we looked at the natural fibers wool and silk, and this week we’re talking about polyester and other synthetics! Polyester is used in carpeting, building materials, and clothing. Sean Cormier, assistant professor in the Textile Design and Marketing Department at the Fashion Institute of Technology, and Jill Dumain, Director of Environmental Strategy at Patagonia, explain how polyester and other synthetics are made and how they’re used.

One of the bright spots in the American economy right now is coming from the manufacturing sector. According to the Institute for Supply Management’s monthly survey of purchasing and supply executives, activity at U.S. factories has grown at its fastest rate in five months. And in the automobile sector, the growth rate is translating into new jobs.

An electric truck maker is opening up a factory in the Bronx — saying it wants to be near a market for zero-emission delivery vehicles.

Two cities, both alike in industry: Detroit, U.S.A. and Berlin, Germany. In a recent series for WDET, Martina Guzman explored the similarities and differences between the two iconic hubs of industry that came into their own in the 20th century. 

Tonight, President Obama will unveil his plan for creating more jobs in America. Obama returned from summer vacation to the dismal news that the country gained no new jobs in August. Unemployment continues to hover around nine percent and it is likely to stay that way through 2012. While the U.S. faces a slow economic decline, countries like China and India are on the rise. "It makes no sense for China to have better rail systems than us, and Singapore having better airports than us," the president noted in his speech following the 2010 midterm elections. "And we just learned that China now has the fastest supercomputer on Earth — that used to be us."

Seth Pinsky, president of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, discusses efforts to strengthen the city's small industrial and manufacturing sectors.