Alan Blinder on International Trade

Alan Blinder, who has, in his own words, been "treated as a heretic by many of my fellow economists" for his prediction that offshoring of service jobs from rich countries to poor countries may cause problems for U.S. workers (see here)  has more to say about international trade:

Stop the World (and Avoid Reality), by Alan S. Blinder, Economic View, NY Times: In the early 1960s, a Broadway musical called “Stop the World, I Want to Get Off” was all the rage. But you hear the sentiment of that title a lot these days.

Opinion polls show that Americans are both weary with and wary of the rest of the world. It’s as if they wish it would all just go away. Naturally, this sentiment is reflected in the current presidential campaign. Among Democrats, it may manifest itself in attitudes toward international trade that range from lukewarm support to outright hostility. Among Republicans, it shows up in attitudes toward immigration — and most things foreign — that border on xenophobia.

Part of the Stop-the-World Syndrome clearly stems from despair over the Bush administration’s foreign policies, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan. But part of it seems to have economic origins. Increasingly, Americans seem to be losing faith in globalization. Why? [...continue reading...]