Since World War II, the percentage of American jobs in the service sector

has grown steadily. What are the benefits and drawbacks of a service-based

economy?

Benefits of a service-based economy:

Promotes the development of a high-skilled population: many jobs in the service sector require very high intellectual skills, for example, computer programming.

The economy is more flexible and adaptable: it has been shown that in a service-based economy, the economy is more flexible and can more easily adapt to economic changes than industry or agriculture based economies.

Promotes the conservation of natural resources: a service-based economy may use less natural resources like oil, natural gas, or coal, than an industrial economy.

Drawbacks of a service-based economy:

High trade deficits: a service-based economy usually requieres a high amount of imported goods that are not produced domestically. This increases the trade deficit.

Low-skilled workers may become permanently unemployed: this is because service-based economies tend to favor high skilled workers, while low skilled workers may become affected for long periods of time due to the losses of industrial and agricultural jobs.