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right now, you and I and everyone here pays more for automobiles then "free trade says we should" because we have some degree of protectionism for that industry - import quotas, tariffs on imported light trucks. is the market for autos in the US "in crisis" because of it? is demand collapsing because of the market outcome in autos being altered? no, demand for autos is at records levels in the US. and foreign auto makers are forced to build plants here, that provide a good wage to US workers, to make cars for this market.

if all cars were made in china - which would be the logical outcome if market forces were allowed to take place in this segment - cars would surely costs less in the US. So what? I'd rather pay $2000 more for a car once every 7 years, and employ an american in the private sector, then pay $2000 more in taxes every year to support that family, and watch them vote Democrat and run the country into the ash heap politically.

I know that this is difficult to imagine but consider the domestic cars that were put out throughout the late 70's and early to mid 80's, when there were very real protectionist measures in place compared to today's. Imagine, how cheaply automobiles could be produced and then sold if there were even more competition driving the economic profits to zero. We'd even get more quality or more costs savings...either or and maybe both. One just cannot simply fathom what the outcome would be or what innovative products/ideas would come into play. When consumers have addition money in their pockets because items in the "basket of goods" become better and cheaper, we never know what that money will be used for and we don't really foresee it until we live through it. Same could be said for the workers who now will find other things to do with their labor services...especially the children of that worker.

simple and fast reads to understand how the free trade advocates think:

http://www.invisibleheart.com/Iheart/TradeNewsweekOutsourcing.html
http://www.invisibleheart.com/Iheart/EconomyOutsourcing.html
lhttp://www.invisibleheart.com/Iheart/TradeHooverOutsourcing.html