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Free trade, economic flashpoint of Democratic primaries
Published on Tue, Apr 01, 2008 at 17:07 in 
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NEW MOVE: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have criticized free trade agreements.
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New York: The next battleground in the Democratic presidential contest is the state of Pennsylvania, which holds its primary on April 22 and in the run up to that election. Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have upped the rhetoric against free trade agreements.
Both Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have criticized free trade agreements in their campaigns as they seek to appeal to blue collar workers hit by the loss of manufacturing jobs in recent years.
However, New York based economist Jagdish Bhagwati believes Senator Clinton is a little more guilty on this score.
Bhagwati said, “She's much more protectionist sounding than Obama in my view. She's teamed up with unions that are actually anti-globalization, anti-free trade whereas Senator Obama has gone with unions that are basically domestic.”
Even as the Democratic rivals pledge to revise NAFTA and end tax breaks for companies that ship jobs outside the US, experts caution that their rhetoric should be taken with a pinch of salt.
The Conference Board Economist Ken Goldstein said, “Is there a good chance post-November that a bill could go through Congress to penalize a company for shipping a job outside the United States? Don't hold your breath.”
Indeed, just a few days after Hillary Clinton won Ohio as a fierce opponent of NAFTA and free trade, her biggest backer in the state, Governor Ted Strickland, was rolling out the red carpet for Indian company TCS's expansion in Ohio and singing the praises of globalisation.
Ohio Governor Ted Strickland said, “I think we are maturing in our understanding of globalisation and all the potential that globalisation holds for the world and various national economies.”
Just as outsourcing and H1B visas were among the major issues of the 2004 presidential election, free trade has emerged as the economic flashpoint of the Democratic primaries this year.
The eventual nominee will probably pivot towards the economic center on this issue, but it should be a maneuver worth watching.
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