When It Comes to Trade, the NYT is Far More Confused Than Iowa Voters

For four decades the United States has actively pursued a trade policy designed to put manufacturing workers directly in competition with low-paid workers in the developing world, while largely protecting doctors and other highly paid professionals. It has also sought to impose longer and stronger patent, copyright, and related protections on our trading partners, as it strengthened these protections at home also.

The predicted and actual effect of these policies is to redistribute income fro...