Why making things is back in fashion
Do you remember the time when we were going to become a post-industrial society?
The theory was that manufacturing was in inevitable decline in the UK.
Traditional industries like coal and shipbuilding had already contracted, but many thought we were unlikely to make things for much longer.
British firms couldn't compete with the lower labour costs in emerging economies, so instead it would become a service economy.
And indeed the number of jobs in manufacturing has declined markedly and not just since the '80s but also throughout New Labour's three terms.
Nice theory, but the Credit Crunch seems to have torpedoed it.
The crisis in financial services exposed how vulnerable we would be if we relied on that as the bedrock of our economy.
And so it seems making things is fashionable again. There's an .
This week's Budget is a case in point.
A lot of the measures in it are aimed at encouraging industry.
The new is aimed at creating a new manufacturing base which can use the drive to tackle climate change to create jobs.
A has been set up to help businesses invest in future expansion.
And of course in recent times Labour have been keen to trumpet their investment in manufacturing in the region - , and in the .
But could this be all too little, too late?
Even though the recession started in the financial sector, industry has taken a lot of the hits.
Corus has been the most obvious casualty in our patch but other manufacturers have found it tough.
So can we now see a new industrial age, or have we let things slide too far?
We'll be picking over what the Budget did or did not do for manufacturing in the this Sunday.
We'll also be in North Tyneside talking to Stephen Byers' would-be successor as the area's MP - Labour candidate Mary Glindon.
It's her first interview since Mr Byers' appearance on Dispatches as a "cab for hire".
this morning.
We've approached Mr Byers for an interview, a chance perhaps for him to talk to his constituents, but so far he hasn't agreed.
I'm Richard Moss, the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's Political Editor for the North East and Cumbria. Welcome to my irreverent - but hopefully insightful - northern take on reporting politics for Look North and the Politics Show.
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