The debate about trade recently has interested me. Democrats are still fighting about that! I guess that's my naive impression coming from New Zealand where the political orthodoxy is that further liberalization of world trade will be a great, great thing [if it ever happens]. It's easy for that to be the political orthodoxy 15-20 years after the wrenching adjustment period.
I guess that's why they call the subject political economy. The American political system gives so much more scope for the potential losers in trade liberalization to try and stop the process.
But before I ramble on too long ... work calls ... the question I always want to ask American opponents of trade liberalization is this: Why should the individual states trade with each other? If Michigan is suffering because car manufacturing is migrating to Tennessee and South Carolina, why shouldn't Michigan be able to place tariffs on Saturns and BMWs so that Peninsula-dwellers will buy a Detroit-made car? The logic of this is precisely the same logic that opponents of international trade are using.
Discuss amongst yourselves ...
Posted by robe0419 at November 11, 2005 2:24 PM