History rhymes. The 1980s Japanese playbook showed us this pattern pretty clearly: throw enough money at your manufacturing sector, and sure, you can dominate global markets for a while. But here's the catch—that competitive edge is built on sand. The economics don't actually work. You end up with an industry that looks strong on paper but is structurally broken, completely dependent on the tap staying open. Stop the subsidies, and the whole thing collapses.