[holograham]

There are a lot of misconceptions with what "free-trade" means in our current form. The US does not have anywhere close to free-trade (and hasnt for a long long time).

The author is correct on the main premise that trade treaties and government interactions manipulate the markets. Most free-trade economists are adamant that there should be as little government interaction in trade as possible (but important to note that this is not ZERO government interaction).

Overall the author has the classic problem with understanding the difference between "wealth" vs. money. (Paul Graham's Essay on Wealth would be a good starting point).

Trade deficits are extremely overblown. I cannot imagine a better deal than the US shipping pieces of paper over to countries in exchange for cars, electronics, food, services, etc. We get wealthy by exchanging intrinsically useless pieces of paper for hard goods and services that make our life better. I would challenge the author to compare a middle class (or even poor) American to a middle class Chinese life. Not even close.

[MetaCosm]

I agree with the core premise that trade negotiations shouldn't be done in secret, nor fast-tracked. That said, nothing in that comic really "convinced" me, it seems more like a place to fly his personal political beliefs than make a coherent point. Just seemed all over the place.