"Trade may raise GDP. But it does make some people worse off." — David Autor

If you think about it, many of the great inventions of the last 200 years were designed to replace human labor. Tractors were developed to substitute mechanical power for human physical toil.

I work a lot on skill demands and changes in labor markets having to do with technology and with trade as well.

I did software development for a while, and I also spent several years directing a nonprofit in San Francisco that did computer education for the poor. I also did a lot of work in fast food.

Jobs can change a lot without there being huge changes in employment rates.

Economists have understood since the Victorian era that the main benefits of trade come from comparative advantage: the idea that people can specialize in what they're good at and then benefit from exchange. The principle is no more mysterious than specialization in the labor market.

Computers were programmed to swap out error-prone, inconsistent human calculation with digital perfection.

Markets are, in many settings, self-organizing and 'efficient' in terms of maximizing the welfare of both buyers and sellers.

Tax reform done right will improve incentives to invest in U.S. production and to repatriate profits.

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Trade may raise GDP. But it does make some people worse off.