89% of economists in the US think trade agreements between the U.S. and other countries is good for the economy, compared to 55% of the general public. Only 3% of economists think trade agreements are bad for the economy, while 28% of the general public think so
Just to add a little colour to this quote, I would suspect some of the economists aren’t answering the question in quite the same way as the non-economists. For instance, I would venture a guess that a significant fraction of the 11% of economists not in favour of trade agreements are opposing for technical reasons like “bilateral agreements can cause trade diversion, so it’s better to just unilaterally lower your trade barriers instead”. There may be some of that among non-economists, but much less I should think.
My estimate is that if one could adjust for this effect it would make the difference of opinion between economists and non-economists more stark.
Just to add a little colour to this quote, I would suspect some of the economists aren’t answering the question in quite the same way as the non-economists. For instance, I would venture a guess that a significant fraction of the 11% of economists not in favour of trade agreements are opposing for technical reasons like “bilateral agreements can cause trade diversion, so it’s better to just unilaterally lower your trade barriers instead”. There may be some of that among non-economists, but much less I should think.
My estimate is that if one could adjust for this effect it would make the difference of opinion between economists and non-economists more stark.