Hey, Bernie Sanders, Trade Isn't All Bad

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has promised to scuttle new free trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Trade and Investment Partnership. He has vowed to undo trade deals with Latin American countries, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Central American Free Trade Agreement. And he has declared his intention to remove Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China, paving the way for tariffs on imports from that country. In other words, protectionism is back in a big way, and Sanders is its standard-bearer. Republican candidate Donald Trump is saying very similar things, though his proposals are less concrete.

This is incredibly frustrating for people like me. I’ve long complained about the pro-free-trade consensus among economists. I’ve pointed out evidence that opening up trade with China has hurt American workers. I’ve argued against presenting a simplistic pro-free-trade view to the public, and against treating Econ 101 textbook theories as if they are the gospel truth.
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