Appropriate US response is using monetary, fiscal policy; not protecting old industries

Washington

IN THE 19th century, more than 70 per cent of American workers were farmers. By 2017, that figure was under 2 per cent. In 1970, about 32 per cent of private employment was in goods-producing industries. By 2018, that figure was 13.5 per cent. The dynamic sectors of the American economy are in services, though US President Donald Trump - with his fixation on old manufacturing industries - does not seem to have grasped that.

Just as manufacturing companies comprised the most rapidly growing industries in an earlier era, services companies do today. Many people - possibly including Mr Trump - think of services as consisting of housecleaners, maintenance staff and restaurant workers. But services include transportation, information technology (IT), finance, professional and business services, education, entertainment and more. In the United States, the largest numbers of service employees are in transportation and utilities, education, health care and business services. And that does not even include the self-employed.