Dr. Walter E, Williams has been promoting free trade garbage most of his career so I give him a D. Great on capitalist theory but not practice if you mean geo-poltical capitalism.
Apparently you don’t understand economics.
Economically, free trade is the only rational policy. It cannot be denied that less-than-free trade imposes costs on many people, as it benefits others. Less-than-free trade gets in the way of competitive advantage, and thus, necessarily reduces productivity both in the U.S. and abroad.
There are valid national security reasons for less-than-free trade—tariffs, protection, etc. But such policies impose costs, just as having an army, navy, etc., imposes heavy costs. Less-than-free trade is justified for national security reasons, and the costs should be counted among the costs of national security. We SHOULD be as independent as possible in energy, minerals, etc.
If our own government were not strangling oil, gas, and coal, Islam would be a quaint phenomenon as it was 100 years ago. We should be doing everything we can to return the Middle East to squalor and bankruptcy.
But most restrictions on trade are just a crooked racket for those industries that bribe Congress the most, or those that Congress threatens in order to “milk” industries.
Wow, you are smarter and know better than Walter Williams! And you’re not even recognized and rich and with a great position of knowledge and authority! I’m just amazed.
Milton Friedman said that the beneficiaries of free trade are many, and they don’t know who they are, while its victims are few and they know who they are. Which are you?