[Mariner]

This retard extols the virtues of "free trade", which has not been free at all.

It has absolutely CRUSHED US manufacturing and very nearly destroyed the middle class.

The lower classes have no "next rung up" on the ladder.

American Capital has funded the rise of our enemies and it's siphon has nearly bankrupted all of us.

The mercantilists of the world now circle like buzzards over a dying corpse that used to be a great nation.

[Fido969]

It has absolutely CRUSHED US manufacturing and very nearly destroyed the middle class.

"Labor's friend" Bill Clinton sold them down the river for huge back-channel payoffs.

[Last Dakotan]

The mercantilists of the world now circle like buzzards over a dying corpse that used to be a great nation.

We tried free trading with a protectionist world - it failed.

[Alberta's Child]

You may disagree with the author, but you don't bring much to the table here in terms of facts and objective statements.

This item from the article really jumped out at me:

U.S. manufacturing output is nearly 50 percent higher today than in 1994, when NAFTA took effect. So why has employment shrunk? Because companies and workers have become more productive, allowing them to turn out more goods with less labor.

I'm not even sure if the numbers are correct, but they sure seem reasonable based on what I know and I've observed.

I don't know if "free trade" is good for America in the long run, but I do know that many of the arguments on one side or another are irrelevant. I've long said that the number of American manufacturing jobs lost to foreign competition over the last few decades is tiny compared to what has been lost to automation and improved efficiency. I don't know what the answer to this dilemma may be, but in the long run I don't think we're going to have much control over our future here in the U.S. anyway.