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Podcast: Planet Money
Episode: Why economists got free trade with China so wrong
Description: With the year coming to a close, we're sharing our most popular Planet Money bonus episode of 2025! As U.S. trade with China exploded in the early 2000's, American manufacturing began to shrivel. Those workers struggled to adapt and find new jobs. It ran counter to how mainstream economics at the time viewed free trade ... that it would be a clear win for the U.S. Greg Rosalsky talks with David Autor about why economists got free trade with China so wrong. Autor, an MIT economics professor, and his colleagues published a series of eye-opening studies ove...