China Shock 2.0: The past and future of the US Labor Market
with HKS Prof. Gordon Hanson (Virtual)
Please join us with HKS Professor Gordon Hanson with a discussion about a phenomenon called the China Shock, which saw traditional U.S. manufacturing communities struggle in the early aughts as a repercussion of China’s growing trade power.
Now Prof. Hanson and co-author David Autor warn that China Shock 2.0 is on the way. In a guest essay in the New York Times, they wrote, “China Shock 2.0, the one that’s fast approaching, is where China goes from underdog to favorite.
Today, it is aggressively contesting the innovative sectors where the United States has long been the unquestioned leader: aviation, A.I., telecommunications, microprocessors, robotics, nuclear and fusion power, quantum computing, biotech and pharma, solar, batteries.”
To compete, the authors say, the United States will need more than tariffs; it will need a “better trade strategy,” including investment in key, innovative fields.
Who’s Invited:
• Harvard undergrad/grad alumni
• IvyPlus undergrad/grad alumni (Stanford, Penn, Columbia, MIT, Oxford, Cambridge, etc.)
China Shock 2.0: The Past and Future of the US Labor Market
with HKS Prof. Gordon Hanson
Tuesday, June 2, 2026
6:30pm - 7:30pm PT
Virtual
• Virtual meeting link will be sent 2 days before
Cost: $10
• The fee for this event helps to support our community service programs
We look forward to seeing you at our event!
About HKS Prof Gordon Hanson
Gordon Hanson is the Peter Wertheim Professor in Urban Policy at Harvard Kennedy School (Remembrance for Peter Wertheim) and Academic Dean for Strategy and Engagement at Harvard Kennedy School. He is best known for his research on the labor market consequences of globalization, including pioneering work on the China trade shock.
Hanson’s current research addresses the causes and consequences of regional job loss, the effectiveness of place-based policies in alleviating regional economic distress, and how the energy transition will affect local labor markets. This work is part of the Reimagining the Economy project at the Kennedy School, which Hanson co-directs with Dani Rodrik. Hanson’s related scholarship touches upon immigration, the globalization of production, and economic geography.
He has published extensively in top economics journals, is widely cited for his research by scholars from across the social sciences and is frequently quoted in major media outlets. Hanson is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and past co-editor of the Journal of Economic Perspectives, the Review of Economics and Statistics, and the Journal of Development Economics.
He received his PhD in economics from MIT in 1992 and his BA in economics from Occidental College in 1986. Prior to joining Harvard in 2020, he spent two decades at UC San Diego, where held the Pacific Economic Cooperation Chair in International Economic Relations at UC San Diego and was founding director of the Center on Global Transformation. Hanson previously served on the economics faculties of the University of Michigan and the University of Texas.
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