advantage—in other words, producing what it is best at. Therefore, part of the higher price that consumers pay

for protected goods is lost economic efficiency, which we can measure as another deadweight loss, like what

we discussed in Labor and Financial Markets.

There’s a bumper sticker that speaks to the threat some U.S. workers feel from imported products: “Buy

American—Save U.S. Jobs.” If an economist were driving the car, the sticker might declare: “Block

Imports—Save Jobs for Some Americans, Lose Jobs for Other Americans, and Also Pay High Prices.”

Trade and Wages

Even if trade does not reduce the number of jobs, it could affect wages. Here, it is important to separate issues

about the average level of wages from issues about whether the wages of certain workers may be helped or hurt

by trade.

Because trade raises the amount that an economy can produce by letting firms and workers play to their
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