The Post on Trade: Blah, Blah, Blah

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I would not suggest that anyone start a hunger strike holding out until the Washington Post prints a column critical of Clinton-Bush trade agenda. Yes, the paper has yet another column pushing this trade agenda today, this one from David Broder, the dean of the Washington press corp. Broder wants people to move "beyond the old and futile debate between 'free trade' and 'protectionism,'" but not to question why these trade deals subject auto workers' and textile workers' jobs to international competition, but not the jobs of doctors and lawyers. For Broder, trade liberalization means competition for those at the middle and the bottom, while protecting those at the top. It would be helpful to the Post's readers, and perhaps even more to its columnists and reporters, if it printed a more diverse range of views on this issue.

--Dean Baker

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