The NYT tells us about the battle among House Democrats over trade policy and some of the comments attributed to the “free trade” side are absolutely bizarre. For example, Washington representative Jim McDermott reportedly “believes many voters are ‘re-evaluating’ the idea that ‘everybody wins with trade.'”
Huh? “Everybody wins with trade,” who ever said anything as ridiculous as that? This is certainly not the trade theory that economists preach (when they are honest). The theory is that trade producers winners and losers. If we subject our autoworkers to competition with low paid workers in the developing world, then they will be losers. Carbuyers will be winners because cars will cost less. If we subject our doctors to competition with low paid workers in the developing world, then they will be losers. Patients will be winners because healthcare will cost less. The standard trade models claim that the winners will gain more than the losers lose, but it surely does not say that everbody wins. Doesn’t an “internationalist” like Jim McDermott know this?
It would have been helpful to include the views of an economist on Mr. McDermott’s remarks.
–Dean Baker
