Are those the same people that make assertions based on observations & models lacking legitimate control groups? You seem to be discussing climate scientists,

Are those the same people that make assertions based on observations & models lacking legitimate control groups? You seem to be discussing climate scientists, actually. I guess the NYT shouldn't take their consensus seriously either? However, if they dont account for currency manipulation, tax loopholes, and labour safety standards, I think those same economists lose a lot of credibility clinging to this fantasy that free trade as we know it is actually free. Yes they do. Currency manipulation is well understood - it's a country giving things away to other countries. I don't know what you mean by "tax loopholes". Labor safety standards are also well understood by economists. Here's one article on the topic: http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/JobSafety.html http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/JobSafety.html Economists are also well aware that trade is far from free. For example, Bryan Caplan is a famous advocate of increasing free trade in labor (via open borders). There is a general economic consensus that occupational licensing, as practiced in the US, is exceedingly harmful: https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/licensing_report_final_nonembargo.pdf https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/licensin... https://www.aei.org/publication/the-terrible-economic-burden-of-occupational-licensing/ https://www.aei.org/publication/the-terrible-economic-burden... https://www.nber.org/chapters/c0601.pdf https://www.nber.org/chapters/c0601.pdf