There’s been some very good post-debate discussion of yesterday’s GOP contest in Dearborn, Michigan.  The Washington Post’s Steven Pearlstein feels that “the leading Republican candidates aren't serious about economic issues,” and noted that, on the subject of trade, the candidates merely debated “whether globalization has been good or bad,” but offered no real solutions.  That’s about the extent of their economic prescription.  What’s troubling is that, even though the debate took place in hard-hit Michigan—which has lost more than 279,000 manufacturing jobs in the past seven years—there was little if any direct talk about the economy’s woes.  The Detroit Free Press’s Stephen Henderson said that he waited “in vain” for commentary on “auto industry woes” and “jobs” and thought the candidates were only focused on how much their party “despises any tax, for any purpose, levied against any American.” As AAM’s Scott Paul regretfully predicted, there simply wasn’t the kind of focused, concerned talk about manufacturing flight that the American people are clamoring for.  In a further irony, the candidates reflexively argued against taxation, but never caught on to the de facto (and protectionist) set of taxes placed on U.S. exports via foreign currency manipulation and subsidies.  Of the top tier candidates, Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney did offer critiques on China, and the need for countries to “compete fairly.”  But in the end, no one yelled loudly and clearly that it’s high time for a dramatic change in policy. And so, we’re left waiting in vain until the next debate.