Pew Research, May 27: "Free Trade Agreements Seen as Good for U.S."

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100. My negative opinion on the TPP was hard won.

I've made a deliberate and persistent effort to educate myself about economics over the years. I've read books by Krugman, Sachs, Stiglitz. (one very good book was The Creation and Destruction of Value -- The Globalization Cycle, by Harold James) I've read works by free-market writers, left-wing writers, (I especially like Andre Gorz), radical thinkers, etc. I've argued these ideas with my family (my brother), my co-workers, and on the internets.

I'm opposed to the TPP on pragmatic and ethical grounds, which I won't go into here.

But my point is this. I've taken a long journey to get where I am. The average person in America today doesn't read books, doesn't read newspapers, doesn't dive deep into public policy, ethics, philosophy, etc. Capitalism is the status quo. In myriad ways, it's inculcated into the way we think from the time we're young until our adulthood. It's reflected in our institutions, our government, our society.

Trade is good. Protectionism is bad. Most people never take the time to seriously question their basic beliefs.

The arguments against free trade are not simple ones to make. The free-trade side (as is often the case) has the advantage of simplicity. Trade is good.