Free Trade Barriers of the Mind
The author and Tufts associate professor Daniel W. Drezner is less than pleased with a new Financial Times/Harris poll that found that most residents of wealthy countries, “regardless of how liberal their economic traditions” do not feel that “opening economies to freer trade is beneficial to poor and rich countries alike.” Much of this animosity, the poll found, stems from the belief that globalization is directly related to rising income inequality.
“For a pro-globalization type like me, there’s not a lot that’s funny about this kind of public sentiment,” writes Drezner. “There is something ironic, however, about the extent to which publics believe that this kind of measure will reduce income inequality … I can’t dispute the rising resentment about rising inequality — but that doesn’t mean that the resentment has acquired the correct target (I don’t think there is a clear target, but that’s a topic for another day). There is support, clearly, for some really stupid policies.”
