Comparative advantage: Country A has an easier time making X than Y, and country B has an easier time making Y than X, so country A should trade some of their Xs for Ys, and both countries end up richer.
I think there's some reasons to dial back interdependence a little, but I don't think it's a path likely to lead to greater wealth or real wages.
(And certainly no reason to make erratic changes at large scale, focusing on allies and neighbors first).
I don't believe I have to point this out, but this is not a policy that I think is good, it's just one that will have the intended affect of onshoring manufacturing jobs. And I'm not talking about higher wages for quants, or MBAs, or HR, or software evangelists, or door-to-door salespeople, or cashiers at Dollar General, I'm talking about for people who are underemployed, unemployed, or doing some nonsense busywork because the manufacturing sector has been eroded away over the last 4 decades.
> And certainly no reason to make erratic changes at large scale, focusing on allies and neighbors first
Those people who benefited from globalization, and who didn't care about the working class, are exactly who brought us to this moment. And I have a huge shrug to those who are loath to accept that. If only it was attended to sooner by a more sensible administration.
Higher real wages?
Do gains from trade not exist?
Comparative advantage: Country A has an easier time making X than Y, and country B has an easier time making Y than X, so country A should trade some of their Xs for Ys, and both countries end up richer.
I think there's some reasons to dial back interdependence a little, but I don't think it's a path likely to lead to greater wealth or real wages.
(And certainly no reason to make erratic changes at large scale, focusing on allies and neighbors first).