Is Free Trade Worth the Price?

 
 
Article: World Bank ‘Evidence That Trade Does Reduce Poverty, But Only If the 
Conditions Are Right’ (2013)
It seems like the government/economic system in a country has a significant impact on your ability to benefit
from trade agreements; if a country has a weak rule-of-law, they won’t inspire trust from other countries to enter
agreements (e.g. intellectual property might not be protected)
II

I like free trade because free trade is beneficial to countries that have adequate policies, human capital, and the
ability to develop heavily financially. Countries that do not have these may actually find free trade to hurt more
than help. Countries with adequate resources and support will get maximum utility from free trade.
TW

While trade has the potential to reduce poverty, this is only if specific conditions are met: deep financial sectors,
high education levels, strong government, good policies, etc. Because of these many conditions, prosperous
nations are better able to take advantage of trade opportunities, while the large gains expected from opening to
international trade are limited for impoverished countries
LC

Trade reduces poverty when a country has good financial sectors, education, and government. Better trade also
happens when a country moves its resources from less productive areas, to more productive ones. For
example, Africa meets these conditions, but Liberia and Mali do not. Poor countries don’t benefit from trade
because they don’t have the right conditions, and these countries need to get out of poverty the most.
AK

Trade does have an impact on decreasing the poverty in the international community because it provide the
education, finance and also the nation’s government. Each nation has their own policies that is designed for
their own trading with other nations. -BS

If countries does not have all three characteristics which are deep finance, high levels of education, and a
strong government. Then they will not benefit from free trade because they would have to create policies to
harness the power of trade for economic development. Which would be bad for the country’s welfare.

LF

Article: Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas ‘The Fruits of Free Trade’ (2002)

“In the end, consumers reap the bounty of cheaper and better goods and services.”
Is cheaper necessarily better? I love cheap fashion, but the quality isn’t there. Cheap toys for my kids are great
until I find out that a Chinese factory used lead paint on them.
II
The price of being independent from other countries would be too expensive. Since we get important resources
from other countries, trying to make them ourselves would make the cost of production be much higher and
make products for the consumer more expensive.
JR

The United States does not have the climate and resources to produce many of the products that consumers
want. This allows for specialty and growth in the economy as well as increased relation with other nations. We
would have to spend money and resources on the creation of plants and factories that have the ability to
produce these products.
C.Hass

Free trade will only work if done correctly. If done incorrectly it could be chaos and may lead to an economic
slump and we may lose our connections to foreign countries that we trade with currently and/or the one's we
have yet to trade with and make connections with..
CJ-L

Imports are extremely vital to our well-being as a country. For example we have one end goal with imports,
which is consumption. And with what we don’t contribute to the us is what we export which is also as equally
vital to our growth as a country
AC

Imports steal business from domestic US producers, and without trade barriers to protect high cost US
suppliers, the economy will be crippled. Foreign imports hit the middle class the hardest, and if this trend of free
trade continues, then we will eventually see the middle class disappear.
AH.

Free trade is ultimately beneficial for both parties involved and their economies grow from the transactions, not
the other way around. Also, free trade can help to create jobs by enhancing productivity and spurring
competition for domestic producers and manufacturers. Companies stay alert and vibrant, which leads to larger
pay checks and added benefits for employees.
-Shared Idea

Article: Jeff Madrick ‘Our Misplaced Trust in free Trade’ (2014)

“The lowering of protective tariffs did not lead to rapid growth for Latin America, which stagnated in the 1980s” I
I wonder how much of this stagnation can be attributed to trade policy, and how much was related to the general
economic and political unrest that occurred in places like Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, and others. Does
government stability make a difference in economic growth?
II
Free trade has been a priority for experiment
TT
 Free Trade will eventually cause a loss of job security for some as well as cause a loss of capital. GR

It puts poor countries at a disadvantage as they have to pay the same amount as rich countries. This causes
them to not be able to compete as well with large and rich countries which can cause them to go into a financial
crisis.
DE

“Every free-trade agreement should come with a plan to strengthen the social safety net, through job training,
help for displaced workers, and longer-term and higher employment benefits” - This ideology allows for
American workers and workers in other countries as well to be less affected by free trade in a negative way;
“liberalizing capital markets too quickly” is beneficial to higher paid individuals and to richer nations as a whole,
but for individuals and poorer or developing nations, moving this quickly is detrimental to growth and prosperity.
EH

The lower income countries are more affected by free trade because they are told to pay the same prices as
other countries. This isn’t fair to these countries because they are trying to improve in their economy from trade
and it isn't helpful for them

LF

Free trade is beneficial if we do it correctly; this means job training for those who have lost them and training for
careers of the future (i.e. not manufacturing jobs but jobs that will still be relevant in a few decades). Some
examples of this is environmental regulations and education for these jobs.
 Some Helpful Resources: 
 
‘Regional Trade Agreements.’ Click on the links at the end of each section for a good list of 
pros and cons of each trade agreement.  
https://www.thebalance.com/u-s-regional-trade-agreements-3306275​.  
 
‘Multilateral Trade Agreements With Their Pros, Cons and Examples.’ There are many other 
links on this site that address trade agreements-see bottom of page: 
https://www.thebalance.com/multilateral-trade-agreements-pros-cons-and-examples-330
5949 
 
Chapter 12 in ‘Naked Economics’ (Begins on p. 270, includes many pros of free trade.) 
 
‘​Evidence That Trade Does Reduce Poverty, But Only If the Conditions Are Right’​:
http://blogs.worldbank.org/trade/evidence-that-trade-does-reduce-poverty-but-only-if-th
e-conditions-are-right  
 
OECD Better Life Index: ​There is more to life than the cold numbers of GDP and economic 
statistics (Interactive comparison of statistics on quality of living in nations worldwide.) 
http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/#/11111111111 
 
Trade, at what price? 
https://www.economist.com/united-states/2016/04/02/trade-at-what-price 
 
Criticisms of Current Forms of Free Trade 
http://www.globalissues.org/article/40/criticisms-of-current-forms-of-free-trade 
 
A $12 Billion Program to Help Farmers Stung by Trump’s Trade War Has Aided Few 
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/19/us/politics/farming-trump-trade-war.html 
 
Fair Trade, Free Trade- Similar in Name Only: 
https://www.fairtradefederation.org/fair-trade-free-trade/ 
 
Is Free Trade Good or Bad? 
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-38209407 
 
Standard of Living vs. Quality of Life: What's the Difference? 
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/financial-theory/08/standard-of-living-quality-of-l
ife.asp