re: #94 Gus 802

In conclusion. The left and the unions have perfectly legitimate grievances regarding free trade agreements as they may often negatively the American worker and America as a whole. Including workers and people of other nations affected.

This is classic and erroneous “zero sum game” economic thinking. Free trade agreements result in lost jobs in industries that are outcompeted by foreign economic actors, but result in numerically greater numbers of jobs in industries that can outcompete other foreign economic actors, because of the new markets that are opened up. This is really basic Macroeconomics 101, and the refusal of the left to acknowledge this reality is utterly reprehensible.

Now if you are talking about money for retraining workers who lose their jobs in the “old” industries for jobs in the “new” industries, then I’m all for it. But creating an economic “hothouse” of protectionism for national industries is really a recipe for economic stagnation and eventual disaster.