But for any worker, coolie wages are better than no job at all. It does tend to cut into an employee's ability to negotiate a raise with his boss. It does mean one thing, in every country, industry need no longer exploit foreign workers, it can now more economically exploit domestic ones.

But even liberals must now admit that this is a true long-range benefit of global free markets, no matter how unpleasant it may be for US workers in the short term. America is no longer being an economic imperialist, and American (and foreign) consumers are paying the true cost of what they buy. A level playing field is starting to emerge, as American economic dominance is no longer being exported and imposed overseas. The prices of products and wages are now determined more by true economic forces, not by the threat of aircraft carriers just over the horizon.

One way or the other, wealth is being re-distributed, and the drop in US living standards will be matched by a corresponding rise in the living standards of other countries. We are witnessing the beginning of the decline of the nation-state and starting to see the emergence of the New World Order: the global corporate market-place.

Neither American liberals nor conservatives are going to be very happy about this, but they will find a way to blame each other, rather than history, for what is happening. But in other nations, like India, China and Brazil, conditions for the average worker are already starting to improve, and middle classes are emerging.

Still, I tend to be a pessimist in these matters. In the long run, the market can make the world a better place if left alone to seek its own level. But markets are never "left alone". Some businessmen will find a way to game the system. They always do.