Germany remained a manufacturing powerhouse until a decade ago, when they decided to kneecap their supply chains and input costs with Net Zero. It didn't get to be the engine of Europe by paying the lowest wages in Europe. America prior to the implementation of GATT and other free trade agreements following WWII was also a manufacturing powerhouse, not because of its cheap labor, but because of its investment, factor production, and technological endowment, during a time when the US maintained the highest tariffs in the developed world while maintaining the highest rate of economic growth. The idea that "a manufacturing-dominated economy is incompatible with high salaries" is non-congruent with history. Even China doesn't compete on labor costs anymore, otherwise SEA or India would be the world factory now, they compete on a highly developed manufacturing apparatus, similar to what the US once had.