The facetious reply to that is to look at what China has done with its command economy under the direction of its smart degree-engineer Politburo masters (unlik

The facetious reply to that is to look at what China has done with its command economy under the direction of its smart degree-engineer Politburo masters (unlike the USSR). That's not a call for Communism, during WWII the US was essentially under a command economy and manufacturing companies made good profits—some fortunes. Furthermore, the US government was run by very bright people such as Vannevar Bush and Harry Hopkins (they must be rolling in their graves at today's shambles). The US doesn't have to go to such lengths today but it could partially do so by mandating that certain critical/strategic industries be directed to produce strategic goods and materials. The real issues are lack of political will and stupid ideological differences.