Does Manufacturing Matter?

European Strait #144

Hi, it’s Nicolas from The Family. Today, I’m discussing this obsession that many people have with bringing back manufacturing jobs. What used to make manufacturing so great?

I’ve just finished Middle England, a novel by Jonathan Coe. My wife Laetitia had mandated that this year I only read novels by female authors, but she nonetheless recommended this male-written one because she found it enlightening, funny, and timely in the context of the endless Brexit nightmare (we live in the UK 🇬🇧).

Indeed Middle England is a great work of fiction by one of Britain’s most-acclaimed living authors. It introduces a gallery of characters, each of whom reflects a facet of Britain’s current turmoil. One of them, Colin, the father of the main character Benjamin Trotter, used to be a factory worker in the Birmingham area.

One day, Colin asks his son to drive him to the old factory, only to realize that it has been entirely wiped out and replaced with a shopping mall, some housing projects, and a huge, …