America Falling Behind

The Pew Global Attitudes Project is releasing a survey today showing that while the rest of the world is moving ahead, Americans are becoming less understanding of the values in free trade. A few key findings:

• Large majorities think international trade is benefiting their country and multinational corporations that dominate global commerce generally receive favorable ratings.
• Still, enthusiasm for global trade has waned over the last five years in the West, especially in the United States.
• In most countries, majorities think people are better off under capitalism, even though that means some may be rich and others poor.
• Support for capitalism increased most in Latin American and Eastern European nations where satisfaction with income and personal progress have increased markedly over the past five years.

This would seem to confirm the WSJ poll Karol highlights: Republicans Grow Skeptical on Free Trade:

The poll shows that six in 10 Republicans believe free trade has harmed the U.S. economy by reducing demand for domestic goods, wiping out American jobs and importing products that may be unsafe.

The solution, I think, is obvious: People need to stop watching Lou Dobbs!