Although overall real wages for U.S. workers have fallen in recent years, real compensation, including benefits, grew during the period of increased globalization. And for consumers import competition created lower prices for products in the United States. While Litan acknowledged that globalization eliminates some low-skilled jobs, he said there are policy options to help soften the blow. Litan recommended wage insurance as a measure to provide assistance to U.S. workers who lost jobs through globalization. Lawrence Chimerine, managing director and chief economist for the Economic Strategy Institute, agreed that free trade is critical to the United States.
Globalization is here, and it's irreversible.
To ensure that free trade works, Chimerine called for the United States to enforce its trade agreements with other countries, citing as an example the recent U.S. measures undertaken to settle a dispute with Japan over fees required to enter Japanese ports. Former President Carter said free trade helps strengthen fragile democracies. One issue that solicited a range of opinions at the conference was the debate over whether President Clinton should be allowed to have fast-track trade negotiating authority, which must be granted by congressional vote. Former President Carter weighed in on this issue in his opening remarks, warning that the United States risks being left behind in the free trade movement if President Clinton is denied fast-track authority. Jeffrey Frankel, a member of President Clinton's Council of Economic Advisors, and Bill Brock, former U.S. senator and U.S. special trade representative, agreed that fast-track authority is essential to ensure that the United States is able to negotiate agreements with other countries.