The author seems to appreciate the wealth produced by ideas, at least here: Why do I finger innovation? Because innovation defies all laws of conservation: wit

The author seems to appreciate the wealth produced by ideas, at least here: Why do I finger innovation? Because innovation defies all laws of conservation: with innovation, you create wealth out of nothing. One day, you have nothing in your hand. The next day you have created, out of pure unadulterated thought, something that people want bad enough to give you money for it. You have created a thing of value. You have created wealth. Out of nothing. But then he goes on and (imho) contradicts himself, claiming that manufacturing only creates wealth, not ideas: We don’t build anything here anymore, outside of tech. Kitchen appliances, power systems, washers/dryers, airplanes, raw materials, electronics, trucks, ships, even satellites these days — nothing is built here. We are no longer the only player in any of these markets; for nearly all we’re not even the predominant one; for most we don’t even play. We stopped manufacturing, and with that we stopped innovating. In industries where we still do manufacturing, we innovate like mad, but the number of industries is shrinking, and I fear that the economic footprint of those industries as a percentage of the global economy is also shrinking. The bottom line: even though we are an innovative people, our innovations are a drop in the global bucket. Meaning that our country’s growth will largely be static, and mostly in the downward slope compared to elsewhere. I'm not sure what he thinks wealth comes from: ideas or manufacturing.