General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The left is so wrong on the Trans-Pacific Partnership [View all]Recursion
(56,582 posts)Which, despite the "see no good hear no good" attitude of the anti-trade contingent here, was the best time for American workers since the 1950s (and the only wage gains since the 1970s).
It's not that I mind opposition to NAFTA; I mind people saying blatantly false things about NAFTA, like:
1. After NAFTA's passage, US unemployment went up (it went down, and is lower now than it was in 1993)
2. After NAFTA's passage, US labor participation went down (it went up)
3. After NAFTA's passage, US median wages went down (they went up, and are higher than they have ever been)
4. After NAFTA's passage, US poverty went up (it went down, and is lower than it has ever been)
5. After NAFTA's passage, US manufacturing output decreased (it increased, and is higher than it has ever been -- and the decrease in manufacturing employment slowed for the first time in 30 years, though W fucked it all up by lowering taxes a decade after NAFTA passed)
There's a lot I'd change about NAFTA, particularly how it favors US farms over Mexican ones, but pretty much all of the jobs shipped overseas went to China, a country we don't have a free trade agreement with and probably won't within our lifetimes because China will never meet the labor requirements for one.