| Sumario: | People who support America's engagement with the world economy are warning of a protectionist drift in the country's public policy. This drift is usually attributed to narrow industry concerns or a failure to explain globalization's benefits or the war on terrorism. Such explanations miss a more fundamental point: America's foreign policy is becoming more protectionist because the American public is becoming more protectionist, and this change in attitudes is caused by stagnant or falling incomes. Public support for engagement with the world economy is strongly connected to labor-market performance, and, for the majority of workers, labor-market performance has been unimpressive. The writers argue that a protectionist backlash would undermine the economic and security interests of the United States.
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