Surely Romney isn't listening to Mankiw

John McCain recently stated something to the effect that manufacturing jobs lost in Michigan may not be coming back. In other words, he can help, as President with the job crisis in the midwest but he correctly points out that our economy is undergoing a shift in terms of employment - a shift from manufacturing to service sector.

Of course we all remember Mankiw's famous line as advisor to President Bush about how outsourcing can actually be a good thing economically (the subtext being that a shift is occuring and that such shifts are natural economic long-run developments).

So I find it puzzling that Mitt Romney would make such a ludicrous statement at last night's South Carolina debate all but denying the power of normal economic trends and shifts. The level of absurd naive optimism about this painful but very real transition period in our econommy blows the mind:
“I know that there are some people who think, as Senator McCain did — he said, you know, some jobs have left Michigan that are never coming back,” he said. “I disagree. I’m going to fight for every single job. Michigan, South Carolina, every state in this country. We’re going to fight for jobs and make sure that our future is bright.”

Surely Romney did not take his cue from Mankiw.
Definately not.