Ahead of President Obama's 'State of the Union' speech tonight, the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) has strongly urged the president to adopt an economic message that will press for revitalizing America's industrial base.  Among the key measures that AAM Executive Director Scott Paul has highlighted for the president is the need to correct America's massive trade imbalance with the world, most notably with China.

In a similar, lengthy analysis on "why America is losing the trade race," The Atlantic's Derek Thompson very accurately categorizes much of what ails the U.S. economy.  He says that in order to rectify the "consumption bubble" plaguing the U.S., America's manufacturers need to find new overseas markets.

The problem with that, of course, is that foreign markets don't necessarily possess the purchasing power to buy America's exports.  Nor do they necessarily want to import America's goods.

Which leads to the overall question of market access and trade policy.  Thompson says the U.S. has a lot of work to do, citing a number of priority areas, including trade barriers, intellectual property theft, and currency wars.

In his State of the Union, President Obama needs to outline forceful, comprehensive measures to address these problems.  Anything else is just window dressing.

Click here to read Derek Thompson's article in The Atlantic.