There's a curious phenomenon sweeping through government corridors globally—leaders can't stop talking about bringing back factories. You see it in campaign speeches, policy papers, subsidies worth billions. Everyone wants manufacturing plants on their soil.

But here's the thing: this factory fetish? It's rooted in outdated assumptions.

The romance with manufacturing comes from a 20th-century playbook. Back then, factory jobs meant stable employment, middle-class wages, and economic sovereignty. Politicians still cling to that narrative. They promise voters that steel mills and assembly lines will restore prosperity.

Except the economic landscape has shifted. Modern factories are automated. They don't create the job numbers leaders promise. Capital flows differently now. Supply chains are fragmented across borders. The old factory-equals-prosperity equation doesn't compute anymore.

What's worse? This manufacturing obsession might backfire. When governments dump resources into subsidizing industries that no longer drive growth the way they once did, they're misallocating capital. That money could fund innovation in services, tech infrastructure, or human capital development—sectors that actually shape competitive advantage in today's economy.

The irony is thick. In chasing an industrial past, policymakers risk creating inefficiencies that weaken their economies rather than strengthen them. It's strategic nostalgia dressed up as forward-thinking policy.

Sometimes what politicians fixate on reveals more about electoral anxiety than economic reality.