Over the past decade, politicians from both parties have courted American voters with an enticing economic prospect – the dream of bringing manufacturing and manufacturing jobs back to America. They've pushed for that dream with tariffs and tax breaks and subsidies. But what happens when one multinational company actually responds to those incentives, and tries to set up shop in Small Town, USA?

Today on the show – how a battery factory ignited a political firestorm over what kind of factories we actually want in our backyard. And what happens when the global economy meets town hall democracy.

This episode of Planet Money was produced by Emma Peaslee and Sylvie Douglis. It was edited by Marianne McCune and Jess Jiang. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. It was engineered by Robert Rodriguez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

Read Viola Zhou's reporting on the Gotion battery factory.

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