Free Markets Are Good, But Foreign Firms Are Bad?

The Pew Research Center conducts a major international survey about every five years on the general public's perception of trade and globalization. The most recent study was just released, based on responses from 45,000 people worldwide in 47 countries (more than 2,000 in the U.S.).

From the study: "Overwhelmingly, the surveyed publics see the benefits of increasing global commerce and free market economies. In all 47 nations included in the survey, large majorities believe that international trade is benefiting their countries. For the most part, the multinational corporations that dominate global commerce receive favorable ratings. Nonetheless, since 2002 enthusiasm for trade has declined significantly in the United States, Italy, France and Britain, and views of multinationals are less positive in Western countries where economic growth has been relatively modest in recent years.

Just 59% of Americans say trade with other countries is having a good effect on the U.S., down sharply from 2002, when 78% believed it was having a positive impact."

Interestingly, these results are consistent with the recent trend reported in the Wall Street Journal that "Republican voters believe free trade is bad for the U.S. economy by nearly a two-to-one margin, a shift in opinion that mirrors Democratic views."

Notice in the chart above (click to enlarge), that in many countries like the U.S., Canada, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden and Italy, people inconsistently express strong support for both: a) trade and b) free markets, but very weak support for "foreign companies."

In the U.S., 70% of the respondents have a favorable view of "free markets," but only 45% have a favorable view towards "foreign companies." In the U.K. and Italy, those percentages are 72% (free markets) vs. 49% (foreign companies) and 73% vs. 38%, respectively.

What's up with that? Aren't "foreign companies" an intergral part of "free markets"? Without foreign companies, we wouldn't have "free markets," we would have "closed markets" and a closed economy.