No Industry, No Future?

In a context of weak growth, high unemployment, unbalanced public fi nances and persistent external defi cit, we are witnessing the return of a proactive approach to industrial policy and, even in France the return of direct intervention in industry. Sector-focused public intervention is thus once again conceivable, while industry is once more perceived as a reservoir of jobs, exports and growth. Can there be a future without industry? Answering this question is not considered as obvious in this Note. Refl ection appears to be essential with regard to the aim of industrial policy (what is industry and why is it needed?) as well as its methods (does the government have the tools, information and modus operandi required for its action?) The frontier between industry and services has become blurred: services have become an industry; industry buys and sells services; and fi nally, a proportion of companies classifi ed as services are in reality industrial companies that have split their value chain at the international level. Today, industrial activity consists in designing products, producing them or having them produced, while retaining intellectual property thereof, organising the value chain, controlling brands and consumer access, and fi nally making returns on investment.