Trump, Patrick Buchanan, and free trade

That Donald Trump is following in Patrick Buchanan's footsteps should be acknowledged.

There is a conflict of interest between American workers and American consumers.

Workers want high wages and benefits;

consumers want low prices.

The conflict should be clear.

Consumers can get their low priced goods as long as workers in foreign countries are willing to produce those goods for low wages.

Thus, notably, the yawning trade deficit between America and China.

But that leaves American workers without income.

This issue has been addressed in two books, with strikingly similar titles.

One, by Patrick Buchanan, is reviewed at

Book Review: The Great Betrayal | Cato Institute https://search.app/y9tGVLcDHpV9c7TGA

The other, by Clyde Prestowitz, is

The Betrayal of American Prosperity: Free Market Delusions, America's Decline, and How We Must Compete in the Post-Dollar Era 

https://g.co/kgs/9SMeiRY