A few weeks ago, I posted a column in which I explained that Sanders and Cruz agree on one fundamental proposition: the existence of a large group of disaffected voters (the poor and evangelicals, respectively) who would tip the scales in a general election. Today, I pose the same question for Sanders and Trump: where do they agree, and why are they wrong?
The answer is free trade agreements. Both candidates agree that they have been a disaster for the American worker. Sanders would attribute this failure to the pernicious influence of plutocrats on the political system, while Trump would say that it was the product of incompetent negotiators from both parties.
There is no doubt that globalization has had a huge impact on American workers. However, most of the job losses can be assigned to countries with whom we do not have free trade agreements. Protectionism is an extremely inefficient way of saving jobs lost as a result of lower labor costs abroad; the better policy approach is to tax the beneficiaries of free trade agreements to strengthen the welfare state to help their victims.