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Deindustrialization: "There's one aspect of yesterday's manufacturing output figures (pdf) that hasn't received attention - they confirm that output has stagnated for years. Since Q2 1974 (admittedly a cyclical peak), manufacturing output has grown just 9.3%. That's 0.3% a year.You might think this is normal deindustrialization. Manufacturing is best done in low-wage wage countries. However, UK output has lagged way behind other high-wage economies. Here are some comparative growth rates in industrial production (which include output by utilities and oil companies) since Q2 1974:UK = 30.7%.France = 39.0%Italy = 43.8%Japan = 84.9%US = 141%.The UK's disadvantage isn't merely a quirk of the time period. Even over the last 10 years, output has grown more slowly in the UK than, say, France.You can see why European governments don't appreciate lectures from Blair on the merits of Anglo-Saxon capitalism; in terms of industrial growth, the success of Anglo-Saxon economies is a US story, not a UK one.Why has the UK lagged behind? That's a long story. Years ago, one manufacturer put it this way: 'I don't know why we've lost so much market share over the last 30 years. I mean, we're making the same things now we were then.' "