| Happy Friday! You know what that means: time for a brand new spanking issue of the magazine. We're "dark" next week, so this is a double issue. Of course, that doesn't mean we'll leave you hanging when it comes to digital content. Be sure to tune into the website all next week for some dark week special content we've got planned. The Human Side of Trade. One of my favorite economists, Russ Roberts, has a worthwhile blog post about the human side of trade that you must read. Trade has undeniable human costs — dislocated and unemployed workers, some of whom struggle to find dignified ways to support themselves and who may be left with dreary lives without meaning. What are the benefits? One benefit is obvious — less expensive clothes, toys, and gadgets. But if that’s the end of the story, it’s a pretty bad deal. But it’s good for the economy! It’s efficient! That’s the free market way! These are inadequate and irrelevant justifications. What we care about is how trade affects our daily lives as workers and consumers. If trade is about getting cheap stuff at the price of wrecking millions of lives, then the American people and its leaders would be right to reject it. This standard calculus — cheap toys vs. lost jobs in manufacturing and elsewhere is woefully incomplete. It leaves out the most important and positive impact on our lives that trade provides. To understand the full story, we have to understand the fundamental connection between trade, productivity, innovation and economic growth. Without that understanding you cannot understand what’s going on when we buy toys from China this holiday season instead of making them ourselves within our borders. Read the whole thing. EGGSHELLAND RETURNS! A weird Cleveland tradition is back for Easter. Even if you're not in Cleveland, you can see some of the old pictures here. What is it? A quick primer: If you grew up in the Cleveland area in the last 60 years, you're familiar with Eggshelland, the Easter tradition that started on the front lawn of a home in Lyndhurst. Eggshelland is back, at a new location. A preservation group has set up 14,000 of the original Eggshelland eggs in a display at Richmond Town Square mall in Richmond Heights, and it's open to the public each day until the day before Easter. Ron Manolio started Eggshelland on his front lawn in 1957, each year adding more and more real eggs to colorful displays. His original displays had as many as 40,000 eggs, all individually laid out. It's good that tradition still lives on. Happy Easter! ‘Why Is Walking on the Surface of the Earth Any Less Miraculous Than Flying Above It?’ John Podhoretz recommends this story by Peter Himmelman as "One of the most beautiful things we've ever published." So, because it's JPod, I clicked. And so should you. XKCD does it again. This time with a scathing take on "personal data" in light of the Facebook controversy. Save the date! Join us at the 2018 Weekly Standard summit. This May 17-20 at the historic Broadmoor resort in Colorado Springs, join Stephen F. Hayes, Fred Barnes, John McCormack, Michael Warren and special guests Bret Baier, Senator Tim Scott, Representative Trey Gowdy, A.B. Stoddard, and Jonah Goldberg as they discuss the future of American politics. RESERVE YOUR PLACE TODAY! Book your tickets now.
—Jim Swift, deputy online editor. Please feel free to send us comments, thoughts and links to dailystandard@weeklystandard.com. —30— | 