You make an excellent point. Thank you for pointing this out, it seems like a very simple difference in point of view, but I had never though of it quite like t

You make an excellent point. Thank you for pointing this out, it seems like a very simple difference in point of view, but I had never though of it quite like this before. I do think there is an additional factor at work, though, and that is the fact that efforts to open up the world market have tended to be guided by the capitalist class. It is easy to import from, or export to, another country, but very difficult to relocate abroad as a worker (and I am saying this as an American currently living abroad). So goods and capital have been allowed to move, quite easily, between countries through "free trade" agreements, but labor is still "stuck". So, from an American standpoint, I can see why people are grumpy about the H1B issue, because, once again, the primary group that will benefit from this "liberalization" of trade is the capitalist class. So whether you regard immigration restrictions as an interference in the market, or a natural state of the world, their loosening has been done in a way that primarily benefits a single, small group of people, so of course everyone else is up-in-arms.