The “global economy” thing works well for people who are not only college educated, but actually smart enough to capitalize on their education. Even if we make 4 years of college free for all people, they will have to dumb it down (even more than they already do that) enough so all those people can “gadjiate” and get a “diplooma”.
Then, they still can’t compete in an information job market.
China may create jobs for those who are intelligent AND educated, but the rest will become wards of the state who work occasionally for minimum wage throughout their lives. The corporations don’t need them, small businesses only want them for a short time until they turn them out for new entry-level workers, they can’t form businesses that can enter the global market, and they lack the skills to start their own small business where they are management and labor in their own company.
These are the people who demand socialism on a larger scale with every passing election. They think they have nothing to lose and everything to gain, and to a point they are correct.
I have no interest in using protectionism to save blue collar jobs at the expense of white collar jobs.