I'm not sure what the difference between industry and manufacturing
is, in the sense you suggest. Software? That is certainly technology
but not industry. It's akin to architecture or engineering perhaps, but
that brings up the idea that the United States will be the world's
provider of intellectual property and the lesser nations will build it
to our whims for a pittance. If that situation ever applied it
certainly won't be for long. People in India can write code, and do it
cheaper than we can. They can design a car, an airplane, a set of
extrusion dies, just as we can. And to the extent they use our IP,
they often aren't inclined to pay for it anyway.

CO2 emissions may not be a signiificant matter, but the sheer volume
of oil we import is. The fact is, we'd be better off if Saudi oil were
far more expensive. Agriculture would become more labor intensive and
raw food costs would go up. American lifestyles would revert to what
they were fifty years ago, as fast food operations-dependent on Mexican
immigrant labor which would be sent home under the groundswell of
nationalism an imploding economy would provoke, and dirt cheap raw food
costs-would grind to a slow halt. Rail would displace sleeper cab
linehaul trucking as the preferrred method of moving freight in
truckload quantities-rail and LTL trucking would have a renaissance,
along with their labor issues.

Some would consider it a beatific vision. Others, a nightmare. But I
think we would be better off.