General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Why I defend NAFTA on DU, in four charts [View all]bhikkhu
(10,789 posts)...exactly those assumptions that are brought into question by the data in the OP. As far as Krugman goes, I'm not a cheerleader and I haven't folowed his work very closely. I know he leans toward free trade. His argument that the TPP is no big deal is based on the fact that trade between the countries involved is basically already "free"; there aren't really many trade barriers or tariff that would be affected.
But I don't find the article well-written or convincing. For instance - "Krugmans over-confident answers to his own questions proved to be mostly wrong, as subsequent events made clear. So was the textbook theory in many instances." How clear, and to whom? What subsequent event? A lot of prosperity followed NAFTA, on both sides of the border. As far as "subsequent, the article seems to blame NAFTA on the global recession (in spite of the real causes being mostly unrelated to global trade), though by means of "words in proximity" rather than explicitly, and then both on Krugman's theories. My impression has been that Krugman was a thorn in the side and a contrarian to most of the policy-setting of the economists of the bush years, rather than a brother-in-arms. I could be wrong, but in any case I don't take an article very seriously if it lacks data. Preaching to the choir is easy, and there's enough opinion pieces out there already.
So I remain unconcerned about the TPP, for the reasons Krugman detailed ( http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/28/opinion/krugman-no-big-deal.html?_r=0 ). But I have an open mind, and, again, I could be wrong.
As far as NAFTA, I also have an open mind. I know it has been accepted as a hinge of history where everything went wrong here, but what if that wasn't it? If it was, one would think the data would support the notion. If the data doesn't support it, perhaps a lot of people are beating the wrong dead horse, missing the real story.