Jake's View | I’m sorry Mr Trump, China’s currency isn’t the reason its share of global exports has risen so much
Factors other than the value of China’s currency explain the decline of manufacturing in the US and other developed nations since the early 1980s
Trump said that if he were elected president, he would “instruct my Treasury secretary to label China a currency manipulator”.
SCMP, June 30
I sometimes think Donald Trump is a good bit like our own developers here. His heart is in the right place but he has a way of talking about things he does not understand and then people laugh.
Look at the first chart to see where Donald has it right. Manufacturing jobs in the United States were at their most numerous in mid-1981. Since then they have declined by 37 per cent and that trend has accelerated. This is over a period when total non-farm employment in the US rose by 57 per cent.
And what has taken the place of these manufacturing jobs? My chart calls it burger flippers. You may call it retail, leisure and hospitality work.
These are not nine to five jobs with a reasonable degree of security and reasonable pay, jobs that allow the holders to support a larger household. We are talking of a high proportion of low-paid temporary and part-time jobs with no security.