> No, I am not attempting to answer questions to the UN.  My few cents as a 
> citizen of a small nation without natural resources that heavily depends 
> on free trade of goods to survive.
>
> Market economy !=Free Trade.  Market economy is more than that as it has 
> to live with many shortcomings, it has to take care of many details, and 
> making things happen.

I never said that market economy == free trade. However, the more 
restrictions you have, the closer you are to a command economy.

> And Free Trade != Trade, "free trade" does not invent trade, trade exists 
> long before that and before market economy.

Not true, free trade is the original kind of trade. What kind of trade 
barriers existed in primitive societies?

> The greatest plus about "free trade" is people are cheating on rules and 
> words to trade than through gun, canon, slavery and colonization.  I am 
> inclined to believe that "free trade" staying around the unfree area is 
> better, unless the world become one nation. Then this becomes a moot 
> point.  When the strong nations cannot take advantage of the "free-trade" 
> rule to gain, they will resolve to another means.  The previous ways are 
> definitely not better.

I'm sorry, I do not understand what you mean. What is "unfree area"? I can't 
tell whether you're being sarcastic or sincere.

> If "trading" is equal as in the economic theory, then we should have seen 
> many poor nations become rich, but after so many years the figures show 
> that poor nations stay poor.

There are plenty of examples, including your own country. Just over one 
hundred years ago, Germany was not much wealthier than India or China. I can 
find the relevant economic data for the 1800's if that will help change your 
mind. ;-)

> The tiger economies are the exceptions but the credits go towards more to 
> their culture and altitudes,

China, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea are the "poster children" of the free 
trade movement, but they are not exceptions. Just ask Gerhard. :-)

Olin cited the example of North vs South Korea. Was the culture of North 
Koreans was inferior to their countrymen in the South? Why did millions of 
North Koreans die (we're talking about the late 1990's), while the South 
enjoyed one of the highest standards of living in the world? Maybe it has 
something to do with the fact that North Korea cut itself off from the rest 
of the world, while South Korea was trading freely?

> and they could be a short burp on the rader screen.

You probably meant to say "blip." ;-)

> Guess, the Zen inside me wants Market-economy, the NGO, etc to direct the 
> "freeness" of trade, and not the other way round.  "Free-trade ism" is 
> what I am afraid.

You cannot have truly free trade when some bureaucracy has control over it.

Best regards,

Vitaliy Maksimov
ScanTool.net, LLC
Tel.: +1 (602) 923-1870
Fax: +1 (602) 532-7625
E-mail: vitaliy@scantool.net 

-- 
http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist