No need for US progressives to bash trade

MEMBERS of the US Democratic Party's progressive wing, in response to widening economic inequality, are advocating more government activism to help the struggling middle class.

Indeed, the populist message of the progressives with its emphasis on the need to raise tax rates on the rich and to provide more assistance to the poor, is gradually becoming central to the Democratic Party's agenda, replacing the pro-free-market orientation that had dominated the party's policy during the presidency of Bill Clinton. The election of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio …