So maybe this brings about the question of is free trade good without significant wealth redistribution to the losers. And can a nation produce enough value if their day to day consumption is imported. Europe has significant wealth re-distribution and it still struggles.
The theory behind trade is that you can be more efficient at producing things in concentrated centres with the most skill/ lowest cost and you are able to replace the loss of work with focusing on the industries you have advantages in. Then everyone benefits from lower costs of goods.
If you no longer have a lower middle class can society function which a large divide between the lower class and the upper middle class. The latest stuff on trade shows that while trade is a net positive their are losers that don't recover as anticipated.
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