In Praise of Hard Industries (book)

This isn't AS specific although it will probably be of interest to types who are interested in hardware engineering and manufacturing.

I have a book at home called In Praise of Hard Industries by Eamonn Fingleton. It clearly sets out why manufacturing and not the 'new economy' is the key to future prosperity. Two of my specialist subjects are politics and economics and I agree with most of what Fingleton says in the book. I think it is worthwhile reading.

Check out Eamonn Fingleton's website for more information about books he has written. It contains some very poignant (and sometimes worrying) articles about economics and globalisation of the economy.

http://www.unsustainable.org/index.asp?navID=1

Yes, I have had the book since 2001. It's absolutely stonking stuff. Especially the section about financial services being the cuckoo in the economy's nest.

What I fail to understand is why the book has received so little attention from the engineering and electronics community. I work in electronic engineering and have yet to find an engineer who has even heard of the book.

I mentioned In Praise of Hard Industries a couple of times over on the IET Forum but it failed to arouse much interest. I'm not sure if the people on the IET Forum I have discussed matters with are representative of the electronic engineering community but they strike me as having no understanding of politics or economics. To make matters worse, they don't know a thing about HE and it appears that the IET as an institution has no knowledge and no interest in HE children.

The IET is a scam organisation and probably a fake charity as they are legally registered as a charity. They do absolutely sod all to support British electronics and engineering industries. They do absolutely sod all to support electronic engineers and their interests. They are quite happy to sit back and watch the British electronics industry dismantled and decimated by the global financial elite whilst singing and dancing about the benefits and virtues of globalisation. Membership of the IET is a complete rip-off. All you get are some magazines through your door where half the stuff in them is not worth reading and the other half you can find on the internet or in more affordable publications. It's a small wonder that over half of all people with an IET accredited degree are not members of the IET. A high proportion of IET members work in defence and power generation industries and are probably only members because the bosses of these industries insist that they be members.

I can't understand why the IET is even allowed to be registered as a charity. It's a business - plain and simple. Just like all those posh fee paying schools.



A few documents I obtained from an inside source revealed that the IET strongly supported the Iraq War. They did not wish to risk losing thousands of members who work in defence industries by opposing the war.