The countries that caught up with and eventually surpassed Britain, such as Germany, the United States, and Japan, all did so by building up their manufacturing industries. Following the Second World War, there were two waves of rapid economic convergence: one in the European periphery during the 1950s and 1960s, and another in East Asia since the 1960s.
自工业革命依赖，制造业一直是快速经济增长的秘诀。赶超并最终超越英国的德国、美国和日本等国家无不是通过构建自己的制造业实现的。第二次世界大战后出现过两次快速经济趋同风潮：一是20世纪五六十年代的欧洲外围；二是20世纪60年代以来的东亚。