ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses the impact of trade on American jobs in 1982-1985, when the trade deficit reached unprecedented levels, with the impact of the much smaller deficits which occurred in earlier years. It explores information on earnings in each occupation, the education in each occupation, and the earnings paid to different education groups within each occupation to determine whether “good” American jobs are currently being lost to foreign trade. The book describes the Leamer-Bowen theoretical methodology to assess the impact of trade on the labor force, a methodology newly emerging in the international trade literature to calculate the factor content of international trade. It explains two criteria to evaluate a “good” job: earnings and earnings given education. Firms undergoing technical change will want to employ the most talented people within education groups, and elicit high levels of effort from workers.
