A country cannot be a superpower without a high-tech economy, and America’s high-tech economy is eroding as I write. The erosion began when U.S. corporations outsourced manufacturing. Today, many U.S. companies are little more than a brand name selling goods made in Asia. Corporate outsourcers and their apologists presented the loss of manufacturing capability as a positive development. Manufacturing, they said, was the "old economy," whose loss to Asia ensured Americans lower consumer prices and greater shareholder returns. The American future was in the "new economy" of high-tech knowledge jobs. This assertion became an article of faith. Few considered how...