Aid May Grow for Laid-Off Workers Expansion of the Trade Adjustment Assistance

(TAA) program would improve the social safety net for the 21st century, as advances permit more industries to take advantage of cheap foreign labor—even for skilled, white-collar work. By providing special compensation to more of globalization’s losers and retraining them for stable jobs at home, an expanded program could begin to ease the resentment and insecurity arising from the new economy.

Source: The Washington Post, July 23, 2007

a. Why does the United States engage in international trade if it causes U.S. workers to lose their jobs?

b. Explain how an expansion of the TAA program will make it easier for the United States to move toward freer international trade.