Trump’s reelection campaign is premised on voters embracing an “America first” vision on trade and immigration, a defense of the traditional family with a male breadwinner, and a battle for the forgotten working class. But the percentage of Americans who believe that free trade between the United States and other countries is mostly a good thing has jumped from 43 to 56 percent in three years—reaching 67 percent among Democrats. The percentage who believe that foreign trade is an opportunity for economic growth rather than a “threat to the economy” has jumped from about 60 to 80 percent since Trump took office.
From Greenberg's remarks, it sounds as if people are becoming more committed to "free trade" and "foreign trade" in reaction to President Trump. Indeed, Greenberg's paragraph concludes with the thought that Trump's "tariffs and trade war have united much of the country against him."
Our views on trade are being shaped by political hatred rather than economic evaluation.
What's worse, Greenberg's analysis makes it clear that in his view, if more people think free and foreign trade are good things, then free and foreign trade will be good things.
Myself, my views on trade are not firmly established, other than to say that trade distracts us from domestic policy as the main driver of economic conditions. However, I am certain that trade has consequences both good and bad.
I am certain also that those consequences depend upon many things. But they do not depend upon our opinions about whether trade is a "good thing".
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