Quote:I think that is more than offset by the hundreds of millions of consumers who have more money to spend because they pay less for imported goods than if they were produced in the US. And the fact that these hundreds of millions of people have more money to spend is a big boost to the US economy and job creation.

In theory, that sounds correct. But that's not what happens in practice...


We've had about 25 years of free trade since Clinton came into office. Income has declined, the real wealth of the middle class has declined, and the cheaper goods aren't driving more demand. But opening more markets for the business means, that while there may be less demand, the larger population of consumers world wide allows businesses to still benefit.


Harvard business review even concedes in a 2012 article that demand has decreased goods since free trade policies have been implimented.

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