AI will not have the same regional component as the China trade shock because AI will affect jobs and roles across occupations rather than being concentrated in specific industries and regions. Unlike clerical work, which was lost across all industries without creating a 'clerical capital,' AI's impacts will be distributed.

causalpending

Speaker

David Autor

Evidence Quote

we don't expect the impacts of AI to have anywhere near that type of uh local impact...there was never a clerical capital of the United States [7:15]

Source

A Threat Bigger than China | MIT Economist David AutorReid Hoffman
Created: 8/11/2026, 6:32:32 AM

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