Free Trade

Interesting point made by one commenter in a debate on the merits of free trade:

I see people posting blog comments all the time where they don't acknowledge all the travel agents, stock brokers, retail clerks, and book & music sellers who have lost their jobs becaus of the dislocations that have resulted from the internet.

Until these people make it clear every time they use the internet that they understand the short term dislocations they are causing, I will refuse to accept that the internet should be allowed to exist at all.

Indeed, when the process of creative destruction occurs due to technology shifts it seems that few people express reservations. When it occurs because of free trade, however, it's a different story.