To many Americans, especially of a certain age, manufacturing remains the beating heart of the US economy. And to be sure, the apparent collapse in manufacturing productivity since 2009 has lent some economic credence to worries that America is losing not just industries to overseas competitors, but also surrendering worker dignity and security. Yes, government statistics show factory productivity flatlining over the past 15 years versus the broader private sector where it kept modestly advancing. Here, by the way, “productivity” means “total factor productivity,” or TFP. Correcting for this bias, manufacturing total factor productivity still rose after 2009—about 0.6 percent a year, slower than the late-1990s boom of 2.3 percent but still an economically meaningful pace.