Since Free Traders believe that America should lower its standard of living to help the third world

[DCBob]

96. from your linked article..

Krugman:

"Some still argue that we must reason gently with China, not confront it. But we’ve been reasoning with China for years, as its surplus ballooned, and gotten nowhere...In 1971 the United States dealt with a similar but much less severe problem of foreign undervaluation by imposing a temporary 10 percent surcharge on imports, which was removed a few months later after Germany, Japan and other nations raised the dollar value of their currencies. At this point, it’s hard to see China changing its policies unless faced with the threat of similar action — except that this time the surcharge would have to be much larger, say 25 percent."

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I think he is simply advocating a tougher trade policy with China not elimimating free trade or outsourcing... which I also agree with.