川普上台后面临的经济挑战

If President-elect Donald Trump tries to keep some of his signature campaign promises, such as restoring U.S. manufacturing jobs and repairing the country's deteriorating infrastructure, he is likely to encounter a variety of conflicting forces and political priorities that will weigh heavily on his management of the economy, the world's largest.

Trump faces a daunting task to fulfill his campaign vow to restore U.S. industrial jobs lost to automation and overseas sites, where corporations pay workers far less than they do in the United States. At the same time, his promise to initiate a trillion-dollar plan to repair the country's deteriorating roads, bridges and other infrastructure already is running into headwinds in the Republican-controlled Congress.

While he is seeking to boost the economic fortunes of the blue-collar workers with limited formal education whose votes helped send him to a four-year term in the White House, Janet Yellen, the chair of the country's independent central bank, said this week that the cornerstone of success for many Americans was getting a college education.

"Economists are not certain about many things," the Federal Reserve leader said. "But we are quite certain that a college diploma or an advanced degree is a key to economic success."

"Those with a college degree are more likely to find a job, keep a job, have higher job satisfaction and earn a higher salary," Yellen said. "The advantage in earnings is large. College grads' annual earnings last year were, on average, 70 percent higher than those with only a high school diploma. Back in 1980, the difference was only 20 percent. The gap in earnings is significant only a few years after graduation — almost $18,000 a year, according to some recent data. Beyond these advantages, research also shows that a college or graduate degree typically leads to a happier, healthier and longer life."

Trump, with $7 million in tax incentives, successfully kept a heating and air conditioning company from moving 800 factory jobs to Mexico, but the U.S. has lost 5 million manufacturing jobs since 2000. In an effort to reverse that trend, Trump said he would try to get Congress to impose a 35 percent tax on products made in other countries by companies that have left the U.S. and then try to send them back across the border. That, however, could ignite an international trade war.