Math is Hard

I've been eagerly awaiting my opportunity to say something about Paul Krugman's Brookings paper on trade and inequality but it turns out to be the case that real economics involves a lot of math I can't follow. My best understanding is that his conclusion is that it's . . . complicated. Trade with China in the 21st century may be a much bigger driver of inequality than earlier studies done in an earlier period indicated, but then again it may not be.

I suppose the key question continues to be: Do we have inequality-reducing policy options that will not have negative impacts on economic growth? I believe that we do, and that we should exercise those options before we exercise the option of trying to curtail Chinese imports (making sure that imported Chinese goods are adequately safe is, I think, another matter).