Source: The Dispatch
by Norbert J Michel
“Because we Americans value our self-reliance, we can be skeptical about free trade. A common line of thinking goes like this: Buying things made in other countries will result in fewer American jobs. And letting foreigners produce the things we really need seems like an obvious security risk. As for trade deficits with other countries, those can’t be good because deficits are negative and signal a loss. Even worse, it means foreigners will invest in the U.S. and own assets here — another security risk. A good starting point for understanding why trade is beneficial is that countries don’t trade with countries. People in different places trade with other people, and that’s an important distinction. When governments restrict trade, it means that they limit people’s freedom to buy what they need and their freedom to produce what they’re best at producing.” (10/14/25)
https://thedispatch.com/article/comparative-advantage-specialization-free-trade-explained/