The high-technology answer seemed to lie in the creation of new manufacturing sectors, which—by virtue of high growth and rising productivity—might restore the promise of high-wage, stable employment. Such sectors were emerging in Silicon Valley and other centers that increasingly looked to a combination of electronics and information as their stock in trade. But also taking place were profound changes in the nature of manufactur- ing; these changes would be fatal to the cities’ hopes for new sectors. Some of the most remarkable developments in the structure of manufacturing over the past two centuries occurred in the past two decades. The obvious ones are technological—the creation of entirely.
