Some states handled free trade better than others

NY Times:

Free Trade Has Hurt Some Workers. Now, They’re Lashing Out.


Trade is under attack around the world, because economists failed to anticipate the resulting joblessness, and governments failed to help.
Texas became a trade juggernaut  under the policies of Gov. Rick Perry.  It is the leading export state in the nation including tech exports.  NAFTA has become a net positive in Texas, creating thousands of jobs.  Its policies of low taxes and low regulation made it more competitive and its right to work laws made it an attractive place for domestic and foreign companies to expand and create jobs.

The free trade loser states tend to be blue states with noncompetitive forced unions and a high tax high regulation economy such as Illinois and New York.  Those states have been losing jobs inside the US for decades because of these policies as manufacturing expansion took place in right to work states.

The forced union model has done the opposite of what was intended and market forces are also responding to the high tax high regulation model by finding better opportunities elsewhere.

Texas has approximately one million jobs tied to trade.  Rather than lose the benefits of free trade by levying confiscatory tariffs which lower the US standard of living, the politicians would be wise to put Perry in charge of trade policy and see if he can do the same for the rest of teh country that he did for Texas.

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