Before everyone goes Knee Jerk ballistic over the Trade Deal...

[WCGreen]

You should read the last Krugman column in the NYT...

Krugman is a realist, an economist with a leftist bent, meaning he looks beyond the numbers to include the human factor in his equations....

Here is a snippet from his column....

Nothing divides Democrats like international trade policy. That became clear last week, when the announcement of a deal on trade between Democratic leaders and the Bush administration caused many party activists to accuse the leadership of selling out.

The furor subsided a bit as details about the deal emerged: the Democrats got significant concessions from the Bushies, while effectively giving a go-ahead to only two minor free trade agreements (Peru and Panama). But the Democrats remain sharply divided between those who believe that globalization is driving down the wages of many U.S. workers, and those who believe that making and honoring international trade agreements is an essential part of governing responsibly.


http://select.nytimes.com/2007/05/14/opinion/14krugman.html?n=Top%2fOpinion%2fEditorials%20and%20Op%2dEd%2fOp%2dEd%2fColumnists

You should read the whole column...

Free Trade is, in theory, a great way to even the playing field for all concerned...

The problem with Free Trade as Wall Street see's it is that it means only one thing; capital should be as fungible as possible...

What the dem's have been pushing for, perhaps not as ardently as they should, is to achieve that delicate balance between leveling the playing field while raising the environmental, labor and living standards of people from other countries that we deal with...

So far that has been little more than a pipe dream...

Perhaps this is the best we can hope for; in Krugman's terminology, significant concessions from the Bushies...

If we export our high, well at least before Bush, standards of labor protection, environmental concerns and consumer safety, the world would be a better place...

That, I firmly believe, is what democrats should always insist on when ever any free trade discussion is entered into...

If not, then it should be off the table...

[Maat]

1. Yes, I calmed down and read that this morning.

Krugman makes several valid points. I agree that returning to the days of complete tariffs is a pipe dream, and I agree with Krugman we have to consider all of the tools to stop DimSon's war on the middle class.

[WCGreen]

2. Yea, Krugman gets it pretty right,,,

He see's the world like most of us on DU do and can articulate his views very well indeed...

[Maat]

5. He's superb at plowing through economic statistics and policy.

I always trust his interpretation of things.

[AtomicKitten]

3. yeah, I pointed out the premature tizzy already today

Sirota banged the pot reporting the story wrong to purposely incite the venom (pointing to Emanuel instead of Pelosi), and the usual suspects barked just like one of Pavlov's dogs. All this, of course, with Rangel's reasonable bullet points on record that he used in negotiations. All this before the details were released. But Sirota banged the pot and off they went. Feh.

[Rydz777]

4. Since I'm not a paid subscriber to "Select" New York Times,

I was unable to read Klugman's column. In general I don't trust the NYT's views on "free trade" (but maybe I'm wrong in this case.) "Protection" has become an epithet, but the EU does it, and China does it, as does India. It remains to be seen whether we have enough power left to impose our labor standards on those who don't want them.

[Maat]

6. Krugman is a true progressive.

His column in its entirety will end up on another website. When it does, I'll post the link. But I believe that progressives can thorougly trust his assessment.