Globally, policymakers remain obsessed with industrial manufacturing as the solution to economic growth. Yet this factory-focused strategy rests on flawed assumptions—and paradoxically, it's likely to undermine itself. The fixation on brick-and-mortar production overlooks how modern economies have evolved. Digital assets and decentralized systems are reshaping where real value flows. When governments pour resources into outdated paradigms, they risk missing the actual drivers of prosperity. The irony? Their very commitment to these myths could accelerate the obsolescence of the systems they're trying to prop up.