The same way oil-scarce regions don't compete against oil-rich ones. Geography is destiny, and nations specialize in industry for a reason, beyond the universals (food, education, justice and social welfare).

The book I recommend at the top gets into that in parts two and three. For example, "export discipline"

That’s exactly what Japan, Singapore and the rest of Asia did. It worked.

what? that's the time to sell labor. that's how China started. since the farms were industrializing, there was a lot of people who had "nothing to do", hence Foxconn and so on.

and you know, sweatshops. people opted to work in one because it was better than trying to make it in whatever rural village farming rice and hope.

the problem is not the economics, but the politics. the elites who got filthy rich on this don't want to move to the next stage.