Perhaps even beyond the money is the real economy version of quality of life derived from the consumption of produced good and services. Politicians talk about

Perhaps even beyond the money is the real economy version of quality of life derived from the consumption of produced good and services. Politicians talk about jobs and work because it is unseemly to talk about enjoying wealth. When all public discourse talks about effort, it is easy to understand why people begin to think that lowered productivity, and decreased specialization are advantages rather than the enormous impediments to economic growth and prosperity. Manufacturing is also much less "real" work than agriculture or perhaps construction, if you claim that mass produced goods don't feed you or put a roof over your head, yet few people bemoan the decline fro 50% to 2-3% of the workforce being in agriculture. I suppose the answer to what other people are thinking requires an understanding of what their mental model of the economy is. For example, in real economy terms a trade deficit today means that we are getting a lot more stuff from our trading partner than they are getting from us in return. So, ask these people to explain why our partner would agree to these terms right now, and also ask how they believe that they imbalance will play out over time. The potential answers are numerous, and it's really difficult to guess how you can shed any light on the dynamics of international trade unless you understand why people are worried about it in the first place.