> >And then of course, the real effect of import competition is not
necessarily
> >job loss, but the threat of job loss. Most workers being rational and
> >recognizing the threat accept lower and lower pay in such sectors in
order
> >to stem job loss. So even where jobs are not lost to import competition,
> >its existence plays a very large role in wage loss.
It's interesting that the people who claim trade is a major cause of our shitty labor market are usually the same people who single out Wal-Mart as a prime villain. Yet Wal-Mart doesn't compete with imports at all and it can't even threaten to offshore. (In fact it gains business from imports.) Which suggests that even if we could somehow eliminate *all* import competition and offshoring, labor markets would still be characterized by Wal-Martism.
Seth