From the Global Trade Watch blog:
The nomination of Robert Lighthizer to be U.S. Trade Representative signals President-elect Donald Trump’s interest in altering the trade policy approach that has prevailed through Republican and Democratic administrations for the past two decades. Lighthizer has consistently noted that historically Republicans favored trade policies designed to obtain specific national economic goals and criticized the Republican Party’s rigid support over recent decades of “free trade” ideology. His views put him at odds with most of Trump’s other high-level appointees who represent the very perspective on trade that Lighthizer has long critiqued.
“Lighthizer is very knowledgeable about both technical trade policy and the ways of Washington, but what sets him apart among high-level Republican trade experts is that for decades his views seemed to be shaped by the pragmatic outcomes of trade agreements and policies rather than fealty to any particular ideology or theory,” said Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch. ...
Here are a few thoughts I had on this:
1. When two people hold different views on a particular policy, how is it decided which one is being "ideological" and which one is being "pragmatic"? Do they draw straws?
2. How is it that the "free trade ideologues" who have been running trade policy for "the past two decades" have created a system with massive amounts of protectionism embedded in it? Are they pragmatic ideologues? Ideological pragmatists?
3. Most self-proclaimed progressives I talk to are pretty skeptical of protectionism. They think it is bad international relations and bad economics. Their approach to trade policy would be to have relatively free trade, but with an expanded social safety net to help people they see as being harmed by trade. How come Global Trade Watch does not seem to take this view? From what I can tell, they are very tolerant, even supportive, of protectionism. Why is that? Is this some pragmatic/ideological blend of progressivism and economic nationalism?
Obviously, I'm trying to needle the Global Trade Watch folks a bit here (I tweeted their blog post with the comment that they had "gotten on the Trump train"). But I really am confused about what they want to see from U.S. trade policy. It often comes across to me as economic nationalism. If that's not what they intend, they may want to clarify.
