Fascinating subject and so many angles to approach from....re the sale and lease back, that also goes hand in hand with loading a company with debt. Bugger all to sink your teeth into if it all goes belly up.
On the OP I've sort of come round to thinking of it from the other end, as in what we might want to end up with longer term. I kind of like the global village concept with localised micro manufacture, though accept this sort of goes against the economy of scale mantra. As has been noted already in various ways, do we want to continue to encourage what we ultimately consider not desirable? More stuff, better parking, targetted tax/rate cuts, etc, though getting the online side to pay their due should still be a priority, just not specifically to help B&M ventures.
If you follow MMT(modern monetary theory) then they make a big thing about the idea of job guarantees, as in the state will always employ unused labour...I prefer a Basic Income, but same sort of concept. Or if you look at David Graebers work around 'bullshit' jobs. It's not like there's a lack of useful work that could be done, just needs the political will to pay for it.
