Free trade does little but flood the markets with cheap foreign goods that harm industry and encourage over consumption. Protectionism is a more acceptable economic model as it has a clear micro-economic benefit which offsets the cost. Furthermore, a proper protectionist system would allow us to replace the income and corporate taxes with a tariff-based revenue system - putting even more money back into local economies that are now operating on a level playing field.
Yeah because Smoot-Hawley was such a great idea that helped alleviate the economic crises of the late 1920's and Hoover won a landslide re-election.
Oh wait.............
The Smoot-Hawley Act was fairly inconsequential to the Great Depression, mainly because it tackled an unrelated problem (the primary causes of the Great Depression related to the money supply and the banking system, not trade policy)...
Secondly, let's not fall into the pitfalls of assholery; let's at least try to disagree civilly.
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