Around the discussion on «deindustrialization» A brief analyzes about the gross production and the Gross Domestic Product

Abstract

This article shows the author’s reflections on what has been called «deindustrialization», starting with the question whether the grammatical use of the prefix de is the best choice for its denomination. It also reveals that neither corresponds to a process of decreasing importance of the industry nor much less its disappearance, but rather a decline in their relative weight in some macroeconomic variables, which is a different phenomenon. A less relative weight that respond to a substantial changes in the «production chain», without decreasing in absolute terms, both in volume and value of industrial production. As an example it is taken the gross output and GDP from Colombian industry in the period 1965-2010. The Colombian case exhibits a worrying situation that implies not only an analysis about the effect of such changes in the measurement, but also it is compulsory to investigate its significance in the long term. Meanwhile, other sectors are growing faster and therefore they increase their relative weight, some of them are among those where goods and services are «outsourced» and then they are incorporated into industrial production.