[Dat Mon]

YOU SAID..."Free trade can not be a policy - it is free."

This is how some people such as yourself like to shift the focus of this debate on these threads...it becomes freedom versus non freedom, trade vs non trade....these are straw man arguments.

Why not talk about Free Love...like those dudes back in the sixties, why it means whatever you want it to mean you see...it is the CONTEXT that is important, not the words FREE or LOVE thrown about.

We all understand the concept of freedom, and we thought we understood the notion of trade, but the 'devil in the details' is always how you define trade, and its CONTEXT.

So lets emphasize what is TRADE, and not what is FREE in our discussions and definitions from here on out.

Are we talking trade in goods...trade in services...wholesale labor migration...how do you define trade, but more importantly, how do you think Smith and Ricardo, within the context of THEIR environment, culture, and times, defined it?

[VoodooEconomics]

And, we all know where free love led!?

'People such as yourself like to shift the focus of this debate on these threads' - I' m sorry! I will try to get back on topic.

Context is indeed the problem. I claim you or any one group advocating any policy regarding trade can NOT know, understand and anticipate every context.

I believe Smith and Ricardo would have said that while disclocations are unpleasant - a free economy and free trade are the best and only ways in which to repair dislocations over the longer term.

The context to me is the dislocation that more and more global trade might bring. Unfortunately, these problems have usually been caused by (probably well intended) industrial policy itself. Where dislocations are large the government and/or local institutions should attempt to find a solution(s). But, the longer you ignore our increasingly globalized world and or attempt to 'redesign' your industrial policy in such a way as to 'save' threatened groups or industries - you have only deferred things that are inevitable.

This does not mean that we do not observe trade policy of other nations vs a vis ourselves. China is predatory in many aspects with trade. We can defend ourselves - but if there is truly a comparative advantage then ultimately you need to adapt.