Exports rose more rapidly in 1995 than in any other year this decade, and kept pace with import growth for the first year since 1991. The U.S. continues to run a trade deficit, importing more than it exports, but also runs a significant surplus in the trade of services which account for a quarter of all exports. In part, because of its increasingly important role, trade is a polarizing and frequently misunderstood topic of public discourse.
Economists generally agree that trade is beneficial for the economy as a whole.
Trade has also helped to create new jobs in industries that export much of their output. Many of these export industries have high wages and employ highly skilled workers. However, the extent to which differences in wages and job opportunities between industries can be attributed to trade's effects is debatable. George Borjas of Harvard University argues that trade has had a small negative impact on wages and job opportunities for unskilled workers, while Columbia University professor Jagdish Bhagwati concludes that trade has had no impact. Furthermore, even workers whose wages are lower because of trade may be better off as consumers because of lower prices.