Why white collar jobs are heading to China

About this episode

Kara Miller discusses with economist David Autor the looming threat of China Shock 2.0 on American white collar jobs.

A generation ago, a "China Shock" decimated American manufacturing. Today, a second wave is looming—and this time, it’s coming for engineers, scientists, and tech professionals. In this episode, Kara sits down with MIT economist David Autor to discuss why the U.S. is uniquely unprepared for China Shock 2.0 . From the "apex predators" of the Chinese EV market to the rapid migration of biotech innovation to the East, Autor explains why American "chauvinism" and a political attention span he describes as being similar to "a squirrel on cocaine" are putting our most strategic industries at risk. We explore the existential threat to companies like Ford, the potential hollowing out of hubs like Cambridge and Silicon Valley, and the "callous" myth that displaced workers can simply re-train for a new career. Did you know you can also watch the show? Subscribe to the show on YouTube! Sign up for our Substack !

People in this episode

Host: Kara Miller

Guest: David Autor

Topics covered

• China Shock
• American manufacturing
• engineering jobs
• biotech innovation
• economic impact
• workforce retraining

Keywords

• China Shock
• American jobs
• engineering
• biotech
• economic policy
• workforce
• manufacturing
• innovation

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: MIT, Ford, Chinese EV market, biotech

Places: Cambridge, Silicon Valley

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