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Workers used to earn about two-thirds of the income their labor generates. Now, it's just over half.

Apr 12, 2024
The stat, called labor share of national income, is being squeezed by globalization, declining union membership and automation.
Even though workers' slice of the pie is shrinking, the U.S. economy is growing, so they're getting a smaller slice of a bigger pie.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

U.S. consumer goods and vehicle exports hit a record in January

Mar 9, 2023
Some of the increase reflects growing economies in other countries. And it's welcome news for U.S. factories, one economist says.
Any increase in exports is welcome news for U.S. factories, said Chad Moutray with the National Association of Manufacturers.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

A 60-year-old program for workers hurt by globalization comes to a close

Aug 3, 2022
The Trade Adjustment Assistance program aids workers laid off due to trade competition. It stopped taking applications in July.
Towns with one main industry have been particularly hurt by globalization. Above, Steubenville, Ohio, sits near the Ohio River.
Rick Gershon/Getty Images

How Russian sanctions could speed up the corrosion of globalization

Mar 23, 2022
Adam Posen of the Peterson Institute says that could lead to less varied, costlier goods and a more divided and politically uncertain world.
As globalization corrodes, Adam Posen argues, American consumers could see a smaller variety of goods at higher prices.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

How the shipping container revolutionized freight and trade

Nov 23, 2021
Before the shipping container, goods were manually loaded into barrels and wooden creates.
Malcolm McLean realized it didn’t make sense to put entire trucks on a ship, so he came up with the container system.

What's the link between physical and economic mobility?

Oct 14, 2021
In his latest book, globalization scholar Parag Khanna looks at how and why our lives may become a lot more mobile in the decades to come.
A demonstrator holds a banner during the Unteilbar (Indivisible) protest for social justice and climate change action on Sep. 4, in Berlin, Germany.
Omer Messinger via Getty Images

The LinkedIn co-founder on "Blitzscaling" a company while mitigating risk

Oct 10, 2018
Reid Hoffman discusses the unconventional advice he gives entrepreneurs that want to get big fast in his new book.
“The first that's scaling through the learning curve is frequently the first to scale and the one that essentially sets the ecosystem,” LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman says.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images

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Why the auto industry (mostly) opposes proposed tariffs

Jul 19, 2018
Even so-called "domestic" carmakers are global companies with international supply chains.
Volkswagen Golfs hang on the assembly line at the company's factory in Wolfsburg, Germany, in March.
Alexander Koerner/Getty Images

How liberalism should adapt to the needs of the 21st century

Apr 25, 2018
A conversation with Zanny Minton Beddoes, the editor-in-chief of the Economist.
Numerous national flags are seen in front of the United Nations Office (UNOG) on June 8, 2008 in Geneva, Switzerland. 
Johannes Simon/Getty Images

A deal within reach on NAFTA?

Apr 6, 2018
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is taking the lead in the latest round of talks on the North American Free Trade Agreement, scheduled for today. President Donald Trump has threatened to pull out of NAFTA, unless it’s renegotiated. That’s easier said than done, though and there are still a number of stumbling blocks. Click the […]