The NYT decided that people who support all sorts of protection for highly educated professionals, as well as patent and copyright protections, are "free traders" just because they oppose tariff on Chinese tires. The decision to oppose tariffs that could have the benefit of benefiting workers without college makes these people selective protectionists, not free traders. It also would have been helpful if the NYT had presented the views of some of the economists who support tariffs of imports from countries that don't agree to restrictions on carbon emissions, instead of just the views of a union president. While it is good to see a union president's views presented in the New York Times, it would have been helpful to inform readers that his view on this issue is shared by many prominent economists, such as Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman.
--Dean Baker
