Free trade along with capitalism has brought more people out of poverty than any other economic theory/system. It's not perfect but you can't deny it's impact.
Actually you are only looking at one part of the cycle. As subsets of the world prosper, they leave the rest of the world that does not subscribe to their values in the status quo which they label as poverty. The optimal system for any subset of the world depends on the population density it has to serve. Who is impoverished by ‘progress’?
See, if anyone who said that took it seriously, or even partway seriously, I would find the prospect of free trade much less offensive. Yet the beneficiaries of "current account deficit equals capital account surplus" squeal like stuck pigs and cry "socialism! communism!" if one even hints at the possibility that they might pay a tax to help counterbalance the extent to which the asset pump / export dump negatively affects employment and drives inequality.
bawana|6 months ago
schmidtleonard|6 months ago
See, if anyone who said that took it seriously, or even partway seriously, I would find the prospect of free trade much less offensive. Yet the beneficiaries of "current account deficit equals capital account surplus" squeal like stuck pigs and cry "socialism! communism!" if one even hints at the possibility that they might pay a tax to help counterbalance the extent to which the asset pump / export dump negatively affects employment and drives inequality.