Free Trade vs Protectionism

[Dr. Cynic]

I believe in fair trade. Free trade often gives up too much and protectionism gives up too little and frequently pisses other countries off. Fair trade is the only acceptable answer.

[Dr. Cynic]

I believe in fair trade. Free trade often gives up too much and protectionism gives up too little and frequently pisses other countries off. Fair trade is the only acceptable answer.

I'm not sure that answers anything. If two countries want to trade freely, that could be considered fair. If two countries want to be protectionist against each other, I guess that could be considered fair too.

Sort of a moderate course. Free trade with nations you're close with, but don't hesitate to use a protective tariff in other cases. Free trade certainly helped with other factors to kill the steel industry in Pittsburgh, which hurt our economy and our population and we didn't even begin to recover for 25 years. So, of course, I'm not going to look at unchecked free trade as a good thing.