>> There are many reasons to support free trade,
>
> You're probably right with this, but fact is that there is no one country
> that actually implements it :) -- so obviously it's difficult to find a
> majority that believes the many reasons for free trade are more important
> than the many reasons against it. Like someone said, a free trade 
> agreement
> with 1500 pages is /not/ about free trade.

Gerhard,

- It's true that no one country has a totally free economy, just as it is 
true that no one country is 100% capitalist or 100% communist. However, some 
countries are much closer to having a free economy than others.

- The reason that the majority of the people are against free trade is not 
because there are more reasons against it. The reason is that special 
interest groups are much more vocal than the general society. Let me 
illustrate with an example.

If the US tariffs on steel were lifted, prices of everything made from 
steel - from cars, to buildings, to household appliances would drop, which 
obviously benefits the consumer. However, hundreds of thousands of 
steelworkers would be laid off. Now, who is likely to be more vocal - a guy 
who will pay extra $10 for a microwave oven, or extra $200 for a new car, or 
a worker who's job is at stake?

The problem is, the benefits of lifting the tariffs on steel far outweigh 
the losses to the steel industry. It is estimated that for every job saved 
by the 30% tariff on steel (in the US), we lose 5 jobs in the automotive 
industry, not to mention the higher prices that we pay for cars, appliances, 
etc.  The overall economic cost of keeping a steel mill worker employed is 
$400,000.

It would be better for the United States, and better for the steel workers 
in the long run (because the industry has long been in decline, in spite of 
the tariff protection), if we were to lift the tariffs on steel. It is much 
cheaper to put a worker through college, than to keep him or her employed.

What citizens don't realize, is that tariffs are a form of subsidy -- it is 
the same (actually, it is worse, but that's details) as if the government 
took a portion of the tax revenue, and gave it to selected industries. I 
don't think that many Americans would consider that to be fair, and yet they 
seem to be OK with tariffs.

So the bottom line is, people are against free trade because of ignorance. 
Once you look into the matter, the benefits are frankly quite obvious. 
Unfortunately, the press doesn't help - they tell us about the losers 
(workers laid off), but rarely about the winners (jobs saved or created, 
cheaper products), or the net gain for the country as a whole.

Best regards,

Vitaliy 

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