The results of what they called the “China shock” were gut-wrenching: the loss of 1 million US manufacturing jobs and 2.4 million jobs in total by 2011. If in retrospect all that seems obvious, it’s only because the research by David Autor, an MIT labor economist, and his colleagues has become an accepted, albeit often distorted, political narrative these days: China destroyed all our manufacturing jobs! Though the nuances are often ignored, the results help explain at least some of today's political unrest. It’s reflected in rising calls for US protectionism, President Trump’s broad tariffs on imported goods, and nostalgia for the lost days of domestic manufacturing glory. Our editor at large David Rotman recently spoke to Autor about what he considers a far more urgent problem——what some are calling China shock 2.0—and the lessons it holds for today's manufacturing challenges.