“Reagan at least tried to make a distinction”
You mean Reagan tried to pick winners and losers. If he had done that within our own counrty, you’d have probably (and rightly) scolded him. To me, the international game is no different. If you want to lob bombs at somebody as punushment, fine. But why should we trust our president to have the wisdom to balance efficiency with, I don’t know what to call it, honor? Efficiency is fine enough with me.
By the way, there is no “open market monster.” That is a figment of your imagination. We cannot control the world with our markets, and should not want to. It’s not about morality. It’s about efficiency. And if it’s not about efficiency, then its just another part of politics, and stops being a matter of economics. Then, before you know it, we’re a merchantilist state again.
Amen.
Real free trade (not the phony NAFTA/WTO kind) opens up markets and benefits the consumer, and that is the purpose of the market.