USD College Republicans

Mankiw on free trade...the Dems are wrong

Harvard econ professor Greg Mankiw had a great op-ed this weekend in the New York Times.

Mankiw states that most economists don't like barriers to free trade:
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"Economists are, overwhelmingly, free traders. A 2006 poll of Ph.D. members of the American Economic Association found that 87.5 percent agreed that “the U.S. should eliminate remaining tariffs and other barriers to trade.”"
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Mankiw also said that John McCain, an ardent free-trader, might have some problems because of the popular misconception (or lie, if we're discussing Democratic presidential candidates), that free trade is the origin of our economy's short-run troubles.
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"In 2002, Mr. McCain voted to give the president “trade promotion authority,” under which trade agreements were no longer subject to amendment by Congress. Barack Obama was not yet in the Senate at that time, but Hillary Rodham Clinton voted against the measure.

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In April 2005, Mr. McCain voted to table a bill proposed by Senators Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, and Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, that would have authorized a 27.5 percent tariff on Chinese imports if China failed to revalue its currency. Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama voted in support of the tariff proposal.

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Also in April 2005, when 58 senators asked President Bush not to offer large cuts in farm subsidies as part of the Doha trade negotiations, Mr. McCain declined to put his name on the letter. Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama were among the signatories defending the subsidies.

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In June 2005, Mr. McCain voted to ratify the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement, which lowered trade barriers with Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama voted against the treaty (although, in his most recent book, Mr. Obama wrote, “over all, Cafta was probably a net plus for the U.S. economy”).

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In recent months Mr. McCain has expressed support for the pending free-trade agreement with South Korea, the world’s 12th-largest economy and the seventh-largest trading partner of the United States. Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama oppose it."
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Mankiw closes with a somewhat discouraging view of a Democratic ticket in 2008.
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"It is hard to be confident, however, that on issues of trade policy either Democratic candidate would act like the last Democratic president. Maybe the candidates’ records as legislators are not good indicators of what their policies might be as president. Maybe campaign rhetoric about Nafta is nothing more than that. But counting on it requires, one might say, the audacity of hope."
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Mankiw is such a good writer, and spot-on with this op-ed. The Democrats need to realize that free trade isn't the enemy. But, of course, the labor unions wouldn't appreciate that, and they're a major voting bloc for the Dems.

-Matt Hittle

Posted at 01:36AM Mar 18, 2008 by College Republicans in Trade  |  Comments[0]