Upside of trade that even protectionist-leaning pols can get

I have the impression that protectionism has always been a dicey political strategy. Many Americans earn their living working in export industries. Today's WSJ includes some wonderful graphics that show which metro areas are now the "export powerhouses".

The graphics also remind us that not only is all politics local (Tip O'Neill) but much of economics is local too.

We do not want our weather reports in terms of national averages, but that is how we do most of our economics. Perhaps as economic data get better, we will wake up to the problem of spatial aggregation.