The author’s basic point about all jobs having value for an economy cannot be argued. However, it’s not hard to argue for grabbing the low-hanging fruit that is the sweetest, i.e. manufacturing. Nothing else has similar job-multiplying power like a manufacturing job. Most economic development authorities calculate it at 1 manufacturing job = 1.7 other jobs to support, supply, transport, etc.
Manufacturing is not “low-hanging fruit” at all. It’s very capital-intensive, and in the age of information technology and modern telecommunications it doesn’t provide nearly the return on investment as IT-related industries do. When you look at the list of the 20, 50 or 100 largest companies in the world, it’s amazing how far down the manufacturing firms have fallen over the years.