Source: Global Times

The Evansville Courier & Press of Indiana, September 11 article, original title: We Have Drawn the Wrong Lessons from the "China Shock" - Indiana Is Paying the Price. There is a serious misconception in the economic policy debate: we have drawn the wrong lessons from the "China Shock" and its impact on American factory jobs and communities. The real lesson is that education is crucial, which has clearly been ignored.

In 2001, the United States fully opened trade with China, and China gradually increased its imports from around the world. From 1990 to 2007, the United States lost 4.2 million factory jobs. This was called the "China Shock." However, most of the jobs lost during this period were related to factory automation, not due to trade with China.

At the time, the U.S. economy was actually booming. During this period, the United States created 29 million new jobs. However, the problem was that these new jobs went to people with college degrees or those who had received higher education training, while low-skilled workers were left behind by the times.

Under the so-called "China Shock," the educational gap in the United States became evident, as shown in regional data across states and cities. It is this educational gap that has fueled much of the current populist policy debates in the United States. Areas that lost many jobs were not prepared for the modern economy. Local primary and secondary schools were poor and inefficient, and the university enrollment rate among young people was extremely low. When jobs disappeared, well-educated people would leave.

The major lesson from the "China Shock" is that even with the loss of many factory jobs, well-educated people can still live well in cities with a high concentration of educated people. Most people in Indiana have not yet psychologically made the leap into the 21st century.

However, nearly 20 years after the so-called "China Shock" ended, too many elected leaders in the United States are still spreading this cliché lie to young people. What's worse, Indiana has cut funding for all types of education. At a time when prosperity and good education have become so closely linked, we have decided to do the opposite. (Author: Michael Hicks, Director of the Center for Business and Economics Research at the Miller School of Business, Ball State University in Indiana, translated by Ding Ding)

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7549337648101212687/

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