&gt;I happen to think that the last twenty years have demonstrated that international free trade can be very detrimental to the majority of people in a particular economy, whatever theory might say, but the idea that this is a majority opinion amongst intelligent people (let us set aside the obvious response) is absurd.<p>&quot;Free Trade&quot; as proposed by pointy heads like Krugman is absolutely terrible for most people, and his argument is baseless because it rests on so many false assumptions.<p>The first false assumption always put forth by the &quot;free traders&quot; is that a rising economy raises all boats.  This is something any of the 37% of Americans without a job  or the 80% of Americans who are one missed paycheck away from homelessness or severe crisis can tell you is nonsense.<p>The second false assumption is that the metrics used to measure productivity are at all related to useful and beneficial economic activity.  GDP has always been a particularly useless metric, and has been even more worthless since incorporating the book-cooking activity on Wall Street as &quot;productivity&quot;, especially when that shell game represents some 55% of US GDP.<p>The third false assumption that Krugman&#x27;s nonsense rests on is that so-called &quot;free trade&quot; deals like the TPP have any relation to theoretical free trade theories like the one put forth by Ricardo.  The oppressive and innovation killing patent laws, copyright laws, and global DMCA contained in deals like the TPP are literally the opposite of theoretical &quot;free trade&quot;.  These treaties do nothing but strengthen the strangehold of large entrenched interests, globally.<p>Finally, all of these &quot;free trade&quot; theories are based on the supposition that there is a free market.  An economy where central banks control interest rates and print trillions of dollars to buy stocks and bonds to prop up markets (among many, many other things) is literally the opposite of what a free market is.