With 'rebalancing the economy' a popular catch-phrase of the chattering classes and politicians, it's not surprising that it means different things to different people.
Rebalancing doesn't mean simply raising manufacturing output as a percentage of GDP. That is a simplistic zero-sum game that doesn't necessarily lead to a better economy.
Tim Leunig at the London School of Economics rightly points out that Germany's manufacturing base is bigger, but Germany is faring worse in the wake of the downturn.
But that's not an argument against the benefits of a bigger manufacturing sector, but against building up the type imbalances that Germany had.
Rebalancing the economy should focus on how we as a nation can redress the significant economic imbalances that led to the current crisis. What are those imbalances?
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trade deficit that led to the large inflows of finance which helped contribute to the downturn.
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An
approach to public finances that relied too heavily on financial services and did not provide a strong enough framework for responding to the current crisis.
Tackling these issues should be the focus of rebalancing. Can UK manufacturers help in each these three areas? Absolutely.
But given the severity of the downturn and its impact on manufacturing, we can't take it for granted that the UK's manufacturing base will be in the best position to play its part in redressing existing imbalances.
We're feeling the sharp consequences of finance-fuelled growth. We shouldn't let that happen again.