The Big Picture: The dangers of dying industries

World
Europe

When historians write books about Donald Trump’s election victory, the US Rust Belt may get its own chapter.

The once flourishing mining and industrial heartland became the epicenter of a revolt against the establishment in 2016 that ultimately led to the largest upset in the country’s electoral history.

There can be few more powerful examples of what can happen if a country leaves such regions behind as their industries' global competitiveness wanes – but there are others: the violent protests in South Africa’s Platinum Belt; the hollowed-out communities of the Welsh Valleys.

Parts of northern China may face some similar challenges in the not-too-distant future — though each has its own specific circumstances, and the comparisons are far from perfect.

So is eventual rupture inevitable?

The German government might say no.

In the 1950s, the writing was on the wall for the country’s state-backed steel and coal giants, which formed the backbone of the economy and employed hundreds of thousands of people.

Sixty years later, the Ruhrgarbeit’s smelting yards and mine shafts stand rusting and empty, if they’re not museums.

And yet, wages in the region are above the national average; nearly a million new jobs have been created and there has been no major social unrest.