Should American Workers Fear or Embrace Globalization?

Anxiety about the impact of trade on real wages and the middle class has complicated efforts to move forward on trade liberalization. How real are those worries and how should policymakers respond? In a new edition of his book In Defense of Globalization, Columbia University economist Jagdish Bhagwati addresses the economic critiques that have now arisen, such as the alleged adverse impact of trade on real wages in the United States, and finds them mistaken. He has also taken aim at the critique of Alan Blinder and others who warn that job insecurity will soon spread to millions of service-sector workers. Joining the discussion will be Matthew Slaughter, a former member of the president's Council of Economic Advisers, who has argued that the government must respond with policies that more aggressively address income inequality if free trade is to be maintained.