November 12, 2010
The New York Times seems to be following in the footsteps of the Washington Post in terms of making up nutty numbers to promote trade deals. The NYT told readers that if Japan did not join in a pan-Asian trade agreement it would “eliminate eight million jobs.”
According to the OECD, employment in Japan is just over 62 million. This means that the estimates in the NYT imply that not taking part in this trade agreement would cost Japan a number of jobs approximately equal to 13 percent of its current employment the equivalent of roughly 18 million jobs in the United States. Given that Japan already trades with these countries and this deal would simply expand trade, it is implausible that the agreement would increase its employment by even one-tenth this amount.
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