Making It: Why Manufacturing Still Matters

A veteran New York Times economics correspondent reports from factories nationwide to illustrate the continuing importance of industry for our country.

In the 1950s, manufacturing generated nearly 30 percent of US income. But over the decades, that share has gradually declined to less than 12 percent, at the same time that real estate, finance, and Wall Street trading have grown. While manufacturing's share of the US economy shrinks, it expands in countries such as China and Germany that...