LSE: The Ballpark | How to help left behind regions and workers with Professor Gordon Hanson

Contributor(s): Chris Gilson, Professor Gordon Hanson | The last 40 years have seen a sharp decline in America’s manufacturing industries with growing joblessness in many previously prosperous industrial regions of the US. But how and why did these job losses happen, and how did the US move from an economy based on manufacturing to one that’s now based on services? And what can be done to help workers affected by technological disruption in what are called “left-behind places”? To discuss the origins of job loss, left behind places, and the place-based policies that can help them, in November 2025, the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Gordon Hanson, the Peter Wertheim Professor in Urban Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. Professor Hanson is best known for his research on the labor market consequences of globalization, including pioneering work on the China trade shock. This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Avan Fata. Further reading and resources We Warned About the First China Shock. The Next One Will Be Worse, New York Times, 14 July 2025 Reimagining the Economy at Harvard Kennedy School What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth Take the Ballpark Listener survey and enter the prize draw for £250 in vouchers! The Ballpark will be ten years old in 2026, and we want to hear from you to make the podcast even better, so we’re running a listener survey until 2 February 2026. Fill in our listener survey – it only takes 15 minutes – here: https://forms.office.com/e/Vcj8V8uGM1 Voucher prize draw terms and conditions are available here: https://www.lse.ac.uk/united-states/the-ballpark/ballpark-listener-survey-prize-terms-conditions-2025