Got a Problem? Blame it on NAFTA.

In the following video, Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) ties NAFTA, CAFTA, and the NASCO international highway to increased trade deficits, rising tuition costs, increased student debt, and, of all things, rising healthcare costs.

It seems to me that the advancement of free trade has been constantly and undeservingly bullied by Democrats (I hate to call them “the left”) lately.  In contrast to the anti-trade rhetoric, an October 2007 study entitled Trading Up conducted by the Daniel Griswold of the Cato Institute found the following:

In 2007,

• There were 16.5 million more people working than in 1997,
• Trade accounted only for 3% of lost jobs (most were due to tech and domestic factors),
• Average real compensation increased 22% from 1997,
• Median household income is up 6% at comparable points in the business cycle from 1997,
• The net loss of 3.3 million jobs was overcome by a net gain of 11.6 million higher-paying (on average) jobs, and finally,
• The median household net worth rose from about $71k in 1995 to over $93k

Drew Carey addressed the so-called “middle class squeeze” in one of his informative (and entertaining) reason.tv videos.

Are middle-class Americans really worse off now than they were ten years ago?  If so, is free trade really to blame?  If anything, it seems that free trade has helped to create jobs and enhance the economy, not destroy jobs and ruin the economy.