[paulpauper]

Had you shorted the US stock market in 2000 on that prediction/hunch, you would be down a lot. The economy has moved beyond manufacturing. Data, payment, and information processing and intellectual ropery have taken over manufacturing in importance.

[seibelj]

There is national security interest in being able to manufacture our own weapons, computers, and infrastructure components. Otherwise if a war happens we may be in trouble.

[CoffeeDregs]

I wouldn't have shorted the market based on that but I've not been sanguine about the US economy since then. Financial engineering, not productivity[1], has really been the driver of our economy...

[1] https://voxeu.org/article/industry-anatomy-transatlantic-pro...

[imtringued]

Shorting the stock market makes no sense because central banks prop up stocks. All that newly created money goes into your pocket if you go long.