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I would like to begin not with logic, facts, or reasoning, but with emotion. I, like everyone else, experiences emotions when reading or hearing about the topic of free trade, and these do not always line up with what I believe would necessarily be the best for the country. Since many of our decisions are indeed based on emotion, and not logic, I think this is actually a good place to start this discussion. Also, with this topic being so prominently featured in this year’s presidential election, there is certainly no shortage of strong feeling on the matter. I am a traditional, free trade conservative who feels that the government should provide a framework and a few regulations for the national economy, and then get out of the way. However, I am also fiercely patriotic who wants my country to be great. I never thought that these two positions would come in conflict with each other, but in this election they have. When, for example, President Donald Trump talks about how “Almost everybody takes advantage of the United States [In trade]”, that really resonates me. Rising up within me, I feel that it is our patriotic duty to rectify this imbalance. This imbalance is discussed at length by Pat Cgoate and Juyane Linger, but more about that later. However, once the patriotic zeal fades away, I am left with the realization of what rectifying this problem will require. It will require us to give up some of the foundational principles of our nation. It will require a stronger government, a larger government, and more government control. The government will again be in the business of picking winners and losers. Sure, this may make us more powerful, it may make us wealthy; but will it make us great? According to Pat Cgoate and Juyane Linger “The 40-year-old GATT now covers less than 7% of global commerce and financial flows. More important, world trade is no longer dominated by the free-trade economies. Today, nearly 75% of all world commerce is conducted by economic systems operating with principles at odds with those of the United States”. If America wishes to continue to be the dominant economic power, this is clearly an issue. As they point out, the free market system worked well when only America and the U.K. were dominant economic powers, and free movement of goods benefitted them. This is clearly no longer the case. Many countries today have at least a partial government control of their economies, which helps protect and grow certain industries. To combat this, the authors suggest that we quit relying on a dogmatic free trade policy, and instead negotiate individual agreements with individual countries. In these agreements, we could make sure that our goods and services receive the same free treatment in their country as theirs do in ours. This “Fair trade” as it is, is incredibly appealing. A fair deal is something that is very hard to have a problem with. In principle, I support a fair deal; however, it is the means to gain that deal which I am apprehensive about. For one, the government would have a massive increase of power over the private market, as they would be able to choose what industries would be given protection under deals, and what would not. Secondly, this would make the private sector increasingly reliant on the government. Without the government, and without these deals, companies would be at a massive competitive disadvantage. Countries that have no problem with this level of government influence can gain massively from these agreements. However, we must ask ourselves if we want to be like most countries. America has a place among a precious few countries that have a long standing culture that resists undue government influence. This is, what many would argue, is what made us great in the first place. Therefore, we must determine what is more important. Is our freedom, or material gain and power, the thing that makes America great. There are some who would contend that we can have both. Many believe that free trade will actually help our economy in the long run. According to Arnold C. Harberger, “International trade raises the level of GDP in both the importing and exporting country but not the rate of GDP growth.” Free trade does indeed raise efficiency and stimulates production. Over time it increases how much an economy is able to produce, but does not necessarily how much it does produce. Therefore, by utilizing free trade, America could be increasing its potential GDP. However, potential GDP does not create jobs and amass wealth. If other countries are indeed getting a better deal than us in trade, it is not going to help our economy. Our respite from our current situation can only be solved two ways. One, we could convince other countries to adopt free trade. Then, in theory, everyone would benefit. However, why should a country abandon a system that benefits them, and harms us? Therefore, this will most likely never happen. Second, we could simply adopt a system that was proposed by Pat Cgoate and Juyane Linger. This would place us on an equal playing field with other countries, but would force us to possibly compromise some of our underlying principles. All said, I think this comes back to emotion. The logic and the facts certainly point us to adopting less of a “Free trade” and more of a “Fair trade” approach. In the end however, it comes down to how you feel. Each individual person must decide what is more important for the long term success of our country. Is it more important for our country to be wealthy and powerful? Or is it more important for us to be free of government influence? This is certainly a question that I struggle with. It is also a question I have not solved, simply by writing this paper. As I close, I am no closer to figuring out what is more important to me. However, we will have plenty of time to think on this issue, as I am sure this will be central to the new administration in the next four years. -Shiloh Kamrath Bibliography: "Trump Says China Gets an Advantage from the Trans-Pacific Partnership." @politifact. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Jan. 2017. "Tailored Trade: Dealing with the World as It Is." Harvad Business Review. N.p., n.d. Web. Mccombie, J. S. L. "Harrod, Economic Growth and International Trade." Economic Dynamics, Trade and Growth (1998): 212-51. Web.