At 01:19 PM 9/29/2013, you wrote:
>As in "you can recognize the pioneers by the arrows in their backs? :-)

Precisely. Maybe even gunshot wounds if you're thinking of Detroit/Wayne Co=
..

On a more serious note, for students of history, is there a reasonably
contemporary example of an industry and support industries leaving a countr=
y
and then returning bigger and better than before?

While it's not uncommon to have a vestigial industry that concentrates
on high-end or protected niches, or a vibrant IP-intensive support industry
that remains in the original country*, I can't think of examples=20
where the volume
production has ever returned, though it may shift to even cheaper countries
(from the US to Mexico to China to Vietnam, for example). Particularly once=
 it
goes beyond  the "screwdriver assembly" stage and support industries follow
or local companies spring up to serve the industry.

* thinking of things like the textile industry, the Swiss watch industry,
the IC industry, consumer electronics manufacturing, small appliance
manufacturing, LED production, TFT LCD panel manufacturing etc.

Things like agriculture, weapons, aircraft, machine tools, perhaps cars, do=
n't
really count because they're often considered important to security=20
or purchased by
governments that want to secure local employment for political reasons, so =
they
get subsidized and protected, regardless of short-term economic=20
considerations.
I also would not count extractive industries, which are not remotely portab=
le.

--sp =20

--=20
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