Isolationism is Growing

I always look at the WSJ daily poll, and vote. It's not scientific, but it's usually interesting. Today's question: "What's the net effect of free trade on U.S. employment?". The results are fascinating:

1) It helps. 39%
2) It hurts. 47%
3) It's neutral 14%

An isolated USA thinks (a plurality of, you would assume, fairly sophisticated WSJ readers) that free trade is bad for American emnployment. (I suppose that this same plurality may not think this is a bad thing!)

Here's my take:

I can't believe a group of WSJ readers, a plurality of the poll, think that free trade is bad for US employment. Just on objective evidence, we've had 17 years of free trade, 17 years of pretty much full employment (practical full employment - there is a certain level of unemployment which is structural, due to market adjustments, movements, etc.).

I think this issue is a smokescreen - designed to take peoples' eye off the real issue - the concentration of wealth. (and provide a convenient scapegoat - those dang illegal immigrants!). This same 17 year boom has produced a vast increase in national wealth - but most (99%) of the population is NOT better off. Almost all the increase in wealth has accrued to the richest 1%.

This has been aided recently (post 2000) by a deliberate policy to tilt tax policy in favor of the wealthiest. Double whammy.

Greed, self-dealing, corrupted institutions, habitual lying - these are all symptoms of the rot at the top. Did we really have a revolution to create this country? What happened?