Many smart people -- economists, politicians and business executives -- are perplexed. They just don't understand why so many people risk calling for "protectionist" measures when the results of free trade are so obviously good for the economy. Economic theory and historical statistical evidence, they argue, prove, unequivocally, that free trade is the ticket to generally wider prosperity for the nation and the world. The disconnect, they conclude, must be ignorance, sheer stupidity or, in at least one oft-repeated claim, a clear case of demonic possession. And there are some, they assert, who are so frightened of healthy global competition that they want to hide under protectionism's blanket and selfishly throw away opportunities for the greater economic good. So these smart leaders who believe fervently in the Bush Administration's free-trade policy, which promotes faster, freer industrial globalization, have gone on the offensive. Their plan: Educate the unknowing public and exorcise the demons twisting the minds of their otherwise well-educated peers. Their tactics: Attack with equal parts solid information about the benefits of free trade and hyperbolic ridicule of those who question free trade's benefits (this includes labeling as protectionist any proposal that purports to address concerns about the current free-trade policy). But it's the unabashed free-trade believers who need to be educated because they're on the right side of the wrong argument. Most of their opponents agree that free trade will eventually grow the nation's and the world's economies and that the job churn caused by globalization will ultimately provide fertile ground in which new higher-value jobs will grow. They don't dispute free trade's benefits; they are concerned about free trade's costs. They are not against free trade in principle; they disagree with the free trade policy of the Bush Administration. They're asking tough questions about, among other important issues:
Voice your opinion!
Sponsored