> One thing that I think that frequently eludes people in this discussion is that US manufacturing has pretty much been constantly growing for the past century; just its share of GDP has fallen as other sectors have grown faster.

> ...I don't think the government applying such levers to change how the market allocates capital probably won't be a win for economic output or quality of life.

I think the problem you're having is you're thinking of manufacturing in terms of dollars, like an aloof economist.