Thread by @oren_cass

🧵Happy 25th Anniversary of granting permanent normal trade relations to China, for those few who still celebrate!

Today I'm counting down 10 classic examples of the failed consensus that led us off the cliff (h/t @AmerCompass Wrong All Along project).

#10... This [U.S.-China WTO] Agreement will also strengthen our ability to assure fair trade and to defend our agriculture and manufacturing base from import surges and unfair pricing.”
— Lael Brainard, Under Secretary of the Treasury, Clinton admin. (2000)

#9. “This reinforces all the things we want to encourage in China ... If we want to be part of changing that in China, then openness to telecommunications, openness to the Internet is a central piece of that. On the other hand, if we want to repudiate all of those who are working in that direction, repudiate all of those who have reached out in favor of markets, then not taking the PNTR step is the way to do that.”
— Martin Bailey, Chairman, Council of Economic Advisors, Clinton admin. (2000)

#8. “The question raised by the McDonald’s example is whether there is a tip-over point at which a country, by integrating with the global economy, opening itself up to foreign investment and empowering its consumers, permanently restricts its capacity for troublemaking and promotes gradual democratization and widening peace.”
— Thomas Friedman, New York Times (1996)

#7. “I believe that having [China] in the WTO will not only have economic benefits for the United States and other countries ... but will increase the likelihood of positive change in China and therefore stability throughout Asia.”
- President Bill Clinton at the World Economic Forum in Davos (2000)

#6. "The economist’s case for free trade is essentially a unilateral case: A country serves its own interests by pursuing free trade regardless of what other countries may do."
- Paul Krugman, Nobel laureate, Journal of Economic Literature (1997)

#5. “American trade with China is a good thing, for America and for the expansion of freedom in China. That seems, or should seem, obvious. More trade makes China more connected to the rest of the world. China’s leaders have been very careful not to export their totalitarian ways to Hong Kong, because they do not want to strangle the goose that lays their golden egg.”
— Norman Ornstein, American Enterprise Institute (2000)

#4. “We need PNTR in order to ensure that our companies can fully engage on the ground in China, thereby exposing the Chinese to our American business practices, values and perspectives. PNTR will also facilitate the development and spread of information technologies, including the Internet, ensuring that American firms will be in a position to help shape the continued evolution of China’s economic and social environment.”
— Letter from 200 High Tech CEOs to Clinton admin. (2000)

#4a Silicon Valley Bonus: “Capitalism has won and economy trumps all going forward. ... You see it every day, that China’s entered the WTO. If you look at business startups, entrepreneurship, all you have to do is go to China if you want to see the leading edge on this. We are the biggest high-tech venture capital company in the world. Half of our investments on a runway, going forward are in Asia.”
— Craig Barrett, Intel CEO (2004)

#3. “Those who oppose the legislation ... claim that PNTR will destabilize the well-being of some of our workers by throwing them to the vagaries of the global economy, or that PNTR will send the wrong signal to China about its poor human rights record. We certainly disagree.”
— Gene B. Sperling, Director of the National Economic Council, Clinton admin. (2000)

#2. “You could not generate a hard exam question out of the material here. Just as economics, the U.S. stands to gain far more from China’s accession to the WTO and full entry into the world trade community. We stand to gain far more than the U.S. risks losing. ... There is no doubt where the balance of advantages lies. It’s not even close. ... China will compete for some low-wage jobs with Americans. And their market will provide jobs for higher wage, more skilled people. And that’s a bargain for us.”
— Robert M. Solow, Nobel laureate, speaking at Clinton White House (2000)

And, your #1 quote [drum roll]... “First, the economic and commercial benefits of granting PNTR are significant and all on the side of US businesses and workers. ... I might note that it is evidence of the compelling nature of these benefits that economists reflecting the full diversity of academic opinion have been united in their support for the Administration's approach. On April 25, 138 economists, including 13 Nobel Laureates, released a joint letter to the American people strongly supporting China's accession to the WTO on the terms that we negotiated last fall. It has sometimes been remarked that asking five economists a question will generate ten different answers. On this issue there has been only one answer: that welcoming China into the global economic system is right for the American economy and for the global economy.”
— Larry Summers, Secretary of the Treasury, Clinton admin. (2000)

For complete sourcing and dozens and dozens more of these, from across the political spectrum, the business world, academia, and of course The Blob, check out Wrong All Along from @AmerCompass: americancompass.org/wrong-all-alon…