I HAVE studied economics, thank you. Americans can NEVER compete against slave labor in the third world countries. Plus the other countries aren’t dealing straight; they are blocking us out from their markets, stealing our “superior infrastructure and technology”, etc. Japan rose to an economic giant last century by NOT engaging in free trade. Ford plans on building a two billion dollar plant in Mexico, thanks to free trade agreements. That is a metaphor for what has happened and what will continue to happen. Add to that what is going on with H1-B visa holders replacing Americans here (I’m sure you are familiar with that, in your study of economics), which is something Cruz loves.
Not to mention the fact that our industries can't compete against those that are allowed to dump toxic sludge raw into rivers or into the ground. "Free trade" with China and other Third World country basically means that our manufacturers who are burdened with environmental and safety standards (some of which are sensible and necessary, other less so) have to compete against companies who simply don't have that overhead. The equivalent would be EPA/OSHA telling GM that it's exempt from all environmental and worker safety regulation while Ford is not, and calling this a "Free Market."