Atarecent Washington, DC, conference on the state of U.S. manufacturing, the head of one prominent economic policy think tank was asked, "How much of its manufacturing sector can the U.S. economy lose and yet still thrive?" The reply: "Really, we could lose all of it and be just flne." Unfortunately, this view that the U.S. economy can thrive without manufacturing as a postindustrial, knowledge-and services-based economy has become all too prevalent among the Washington economic policy elite. Some even argue that the decline of manufacturing is a sign of U.S. economic strength, because it signals a thorough shift to an advanced services economy. After all, it's only the laggard nations who still manufacture, they say.
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