I have a theory about that. I believe, theoretically you could have a prosperous economy based on haircuts. The trouble is, you are dependent on random customers for your business. If you could line up a steady stream of customers, and could be continually busy, you could convert your resources into greater wealth. Unfortunately, the nature of the business of barbering conspires against that. The difference between selling haircuts and selling automobiles is that you can build cars that no one has yet contracted with you to buy. As long as you have the capital, labor and other inputs gathered in one place, you may as well build up an inventory of value for later sale. You cannot build up an inventory of stored value with haircuts. That is why manufacturing seems so vital to a growing economy. There aren't a lot of idle workers sitting around waiting for a customer to come through the door. Of course, this process can also lead to much greater losses if no one ultimately buys the surplus cars.
Then in Jefferson's words "The unthinkable happened". Europe cut us off. Jefferson came to realize that a strong manufacturing base was essential to defend a free state.