Why place the word "robust" in quotes like you did?
Their "comfort" is not the issue. The effectiveness is. So you can't duck this, their "comfort" is not being supported by the rest of the market.
OK, let's talk about the effectiveness of trade because..well because..who really gives a sh*t what the dollar is doing. Let's talk about the long term trend of rising disposable income, high employment, high productivity, and a superior and still improving living standard; all occurring in a post trade agreement period, too.
Oh, and you can include all of the $5 dollar words in your sentences that you wish but if you're including them to mask that fact that you don't really grasp the material on a conceptual level, it just has you come acRoss as cheesy. In other words, drop the act, participate with better clarity, and we might just be able to help liberate your common sense from the deep and sticky tar pits in your irrationally fearful, protectionist brain.
You did. Your "rising disposable income" is measured against the U.S. dollar. The U.S. GDP measured by a comparative currency as a deflator doesn't look so hot, now, does it? Hence you're sudden interest in not giving a "sh*t".
Hence the only ones irrational are you guys, who show a rather pronounced case of cognitive dissonance, and who blow off the slide of the dollar as so measured.
As for protectionism, first go lecture the Chinese and see how far you get. And then read some U.S. history, such as Alexander Hamilton, Abraham Lincoln or Theodore Roosevelt, or Ronald Reagan's.
As for your own poor language, and poor ability to conceptualize economics, and strategic warfare... suit yourself. To each his own.
Because there are problems in this recovery. Pretending everything is hunky dory while GM falters is just sad. [Prosaic enough for you?]