Now, what did I learn from it? I learned that there were people, mostly in the other party, who believe in free trade but didn’t really believe in doing anything for people who lost jobs. That is, every trade deal produces winners and losers, so this was going to work for us in a lot of ways because the Mexicans had much higher tariffs than we did. And because, if you’re a wealthy country, the jobs trade creates pay above the average wage, and often the jobs that are lost pay below. But it’s always assumed that all those people will be retrained and that there will be incentives to invest within driving distance of where they live to create new jobs. And we lost the Congress in ‘94, and I couldn’t get the money, and there was no interest in it until my last year as president when we passed something called the New Markets Initiative. So if I had it to do again, I’d get the money on the front end, and I’d say, “No, no, no, no. I need more money to help the people who will lose the jobs.” I just assumed, I think probably because I had — the Congress was the majority of our party, and also because the people that were for NAFTA, I couldn’t imagine that they wouldn’t want to help the people that wouldn’t be winners.
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
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You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 March 2024 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 137 →It's family, and it's faith, and it's friends. I would tell them that. Don't forget that. In your brilliance, don't turn your back on your friends. Don't think you're entitled to something because you're smarter than the next guy.
You are good enough.
Sacrifice the self and you will gain it. Serve the self and you will lose it.
More from Jack Davenport
View profile →Not a child, which was short-sighted of me.
Letting down the people I love.
Self-loathing that rises to the level of deploring.
About five years ago, a half-tonne tree branch fell and missed me by three feet.
Anyone who speaks truth to power at the risk of their own safety.
Your heart walking around outside your body.
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