If you want a striking illustration of the challenges confronting the United States economy, visit the Baltimore Museum of Industry.

On a recent tour, I found myself standing spellbound before a glass case containing 1950s car radios. Regardless of whether they carried the logos of General Motors, Ford or Chrysler — or Germany’s Volkswagen, Sweden’s Volvo and Saab, and Britain’s Sunbeam and Triumph — all had been manufactured by Bendix in Baltimore.