I think there's some misunderstanding due to a disconnect between what economics values and what Joe Public values. For instance, there's a relatively un-contro

I think there's some misunderstanding due to a disconnect between what economics values and what Joe Public values. For instance, there's a relatively un-controversial mainstream economic theory called https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factor_price_equalization https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factor_price_equalization, which predicts that "When two countries enter a free trade agreement, wages for identical jobs in both countries tend to approach each other" (e.g. low-skilled workers in the rich country are now competing with low-skilled workers in the poor country). Economists are fine with this, because the model predicts an overall increase in global standard of living. I suspect however if you asked the voters "would you support a policy that will reduce the standard of living for less-skilled Americans but lift hundreds of millions of people in Asia out of poverty", support would be far from unanimous.