The Business gurus do not have the right treatments for the disease of the monment - stagnating economies. Consumers are holding on to their money - so far as they still have any - to save or wait till prices drop again. Manufacturers and retailers, groaning from excess capacity, are cutting investments and jobs, which brings us back to the slump in demand. How long can this vicious circle go on? The future of the clothing sector definitely does not lie in cutting prices all the time, but in more and more intelligent products with additional functionality. High-tech textiles for the love of the consumer, technology transfer, innovative product developments by networking knowhow might be a good remedy. Without doubt, the production of high-tech textiles represents a solid opportunity for the European textile industry. Everyone is familiar with the long-running decline in the production and employment in the West European and North American textile and garment-manufacturing industries. Explanations are bound up with a variety of terms, such as globalisation, competitive pressure, location disadvantages, trade restrictions etc. Thus in high-wage countries a process of adaptation is under way in all parts of the textile pipeline, from the yarn and fibre stage, via the-production of fabrics to the final product.
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