The sentiment seems to be that this is unique to Germany but is there any country that can rival China in manufacturing?

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ShinyLeftPad 12 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Many can, they just choose not to. They balance the economy different instead of going all in on manufacturing and export. They don't suppress domestic consumption, have strong labor protection laws etc.

	▲	lnsru 12 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Let me rephrase you: “many could…“. Because if you don’t manufacture continuously you loose knowledge. It’s more than buying machinery and hiring labor. Manufacturing is continuous improvement process. Improving raw materials, manufacturing parameters, testing technology. When one stops it it’s game over.

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Incipient 12 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Varta has moved (outsourced?) pretty much all consumer batteries we get in Australia to China.

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sleepyguy 12 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> is there any country that can rival China in "Government subsidized" manufacturing?

FIFY

	▲	mr_toad 12 hours ago \| parent [-]
		It’s not just government money. Factory workers wages in China are still a lot lower than western countries, and they have a lot fewer labor rights. Also, the government hinders as often as it helps, since they can always take over an industry or make it’s CEO disappear if they feel like it.

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asd-1287 12 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

[dead]

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dmix 12 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Definitely not the ones who spent the last two decades being anti-growth and high cost just to suddenly realize they do need to have their own domestic businesses.