Our decision at the end of World War II to create a system of global, expanded, freer trade and the supporting institutions played a major role in creating the prosperity of the American middle class. That was true. But he went on to make three specific promises about NAFTA that did not come to pass: Mexicans would become rich enough to buy American products; they’d stop flocking into the United States, looking for work; and NAFTA would create far more American jobs than would be lost.
