Is U.S. Manufacturing Making a Comeback?

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Has anybody read In Praise of Hard Industries by Eamonn Fingleton? It is a fascinating book that clearly sets out why manufacturing and not the 'new economy' is the key to future prosperity.

http://www.amazon.com/Praise-Hard-Indus ... 0395899680

Check out Eamonn Fingleton's website for more information about books he has written. It contains some very poignant (and sometimes worrying) articles about economics and globalisation of the economy.

http://www.fingleton.net/

If one treats oil production as manufacturing (which I do in some contexts), this is good news:

US oil production went up an estimated 1,000,000 barrels per day in 2012.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-1 ... -says.html

I would like manufacturing to make a comeback in the US, but I simply don't see it happening. Unless it's by big assembly lines, computers, mechanized robotics.. and similar offshoots with little human assistance, then I suppose it could benefit larger conglomerate corporations. I more see the current state of the US as a post-industrial, service based nation of failed democracy. Our current system more resembles a Banana republic, where our core outsourced produce are food/weapons of war/ and trash. Now, I'm not saying the entire country is like that.. some regions like Silicone Valley really do produce things, but for how much longer.. We still have manufacturing plants scattered across America, but it's nothing like how it used to be. I've read before they even are closing more mines across America. Now, Walmart is the biggest private job creator.. and even then, most of it's workers receive welfare due to low wages. I have a hard time seeing this become the trend everywhere.