MUNCIE — Fact-checkers at The Washington Post and Associated Press are citing a Ball State University study to question claims made by Sen. Elizabeth Warren about the cause of job losses.
During the most recent Democratic presidential debate, Warren said: “The data show that we’ve had a lot of problems with losing jobs, but the principal reason has been bad trade policy. The principal reason has been a bunch of corporations, giant multinational corporations who’ve been calling the shots on trade.”
AP reported that trade with China has contributed to shuttered factories and the loss of roughly 2 million jobs.
But the news agency went on to say "the Massachusetts senator is off," citing a Ball State study that found "the primary culprit" that accounted for 88 percent of factory job losses between 2000 and 2010 was automation.
AP also noted that it should be acknowledged that the U.S. economy has been adding jobs; it's just that "the nature of those jobs has changed as factory work and other occupations become less prevalent."
Washington Post fact checker Glenn Kessler awarded Warren's statement two Pinocchios (the equivalent of a half truth) on a scale of one Pinocchio for minor shading of the facts and four Pinocchios for outright lies.
"Be wary of politicians who speak with certainty about economic research," Kessler wrote. "The issues are complex and not easily tossed off in a sound bite. Yet Warren said that 'bad trade policy' was the 'principal reason' for job loss, dismissing concerns about automation. She's even written that blaming job loss on automation is 'not true.'
"The available research suggests she speaks with too much certainty. Even researchers who do not accept the Ball State findings are not willing to go as far as Warren, in part because more research needs to be done in untangling the interplay between trade and automation."
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