© 2016, Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale. The paper aims at reconstructing the industrial policy debate by focusing on a number of theoretical issues, in particular the contested nature of industrial policy—its selectivity—also in relation to manufacturing and the different rationales for industrial policy making. The paper concludes by looking ahead into the future of manufacturing and focuses on the need for rethinking our understanding of global production and emerging technologies for increased prosperity.