So I’ve heard two arguments. The US led in manufacturing because other countries were bombed out; and other countries benefited from modern manufacturing because they were bombed out.
I think the key is private sector investing. Saving and investing are underappreciated. Marx considered returns to saving and investing evil. Keynes considered savings a waste because it took away from consumption.
Intelligent investing prepares a prosperous future. Intelligent investing is much more likely in the private sector than the public sector. With private sector investing, investors are risking their own money - a great tonic against superficial thinking, egotism, and political correctness.
There is more private sector investing when there is a stable political environment that favors saving and investing. This is generally lacking around the world. Sometimes it is lacking in the US as well.
The two “arguments” aren’t mutually exclusive; after WWII we were the manufacturing center of the world because Japanese, German, British, and Soviet industries had been bombed and/or re-tooled for the war. After their recovery/rebuilding, they were making their share of goods (remember when Japanese cars first arrived here?). Each year we’ve lost more and more of our share of manufacturing (as more and more Third World countries followed suit); now it is impossible to find certain goods made here anymore.