Keep America Open
An op-ed that ran in the Wall Street Journal drafted by California Governor Arnold Swarzenegger and US Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez. Its pro free trade and I think does an excellent job showcasing the academic (and accurate) positive implications of free trade. The unfortunate thing, however, as I and many have commented before, is that free trade overall is good, but when it harms individuals, it does so in an acute and very painful way.
Americans are sort of aware that they can buy quality goods for cheaper now than at any other time in history. However, when a job is outsourced, it hurts a family directly. The benefits of free trade are hazy, present, but not intense and understandable only when explained in detail. The pain of globalization requires no complex explanations and is intense. The long-term challenges to the global economic system are sure to be serious.
Ironically, if free trade continues to get bogged down, the long term implications won't be positive. Imagine, American manufacturers just closing down due to lack of competiveness. Think of continued inflation of the costs of goods. Then extrapolate to imagine political instability in growing giants like China and India. What unforseen problems will emerge if their economies stop growing and seams that are currently being papered over because of higher living standards blow apart?
We are all wrapped in a web we cannot just disentangle ourselves from. This is good, bad, and ugly, but it is also reality.
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