Observers say the U.S. has been able to float above the upheavals in Asia because it did not resist the transition to a service economy.

• Services account for 80 percent of employment and nearly as much of U.S. economic output -- and the services sector is unaffected by the cost of labor in China.

• Almost the whole manufacturing sector consists of "tradable" goods -- but only a small part of the service sector does.

• In June, the service sector enjoyed price hikes of 2.7 percent, while price increases in the tradable goods sector were near zero.

• According to McKinsey's Byron Auguste, tradable goods accounted for 40 percent of the economy in 1950 -- but only 20 percent today.

The manufacturing that remains in the U.S., say observers, does so because it needs skilled workers and needs to be close to its customers. And the service-oriented U.S. economy has little to fear from the oft-foreseen tide of cheap goods from Asia.