Why is free trade good for the US economy?

Well now, there is something called 'The Optimum Tariff'
- using the normal models it is actually a freak case when 'Free Trade' works

However, because one has interest groups, sometimes it is better that
a second rate solution is better - because it gets rid of things that
would make it rather a lot worse.

The simple answer is that it prevents 'exogenous interference'
- or even 'endogenous interference'

Interference with either might be benign as very few things (like
individuals, companies or economies) are immune from Economic
Tsunamis.

Personally, If I were running the US economy, I would start shutting
down 'Free Trade' - you conned the Japs - but the Chinese are very
smart.

Free Trade is like 'Democracy' - neither exist, but both are ideals.

In my opinion,USA exports High technology product and other product
with very high profit most.And other countries can't compare with USA
on number,so free trade is good for USA.

Lord Rootes the chairman of a British car manufacturing company said
something similar in the 1960's

He said the UK would export technology rather than manufactures.

This was the time they sold the designs for the Hillman Imp engine to
the Japanese, it was a revolutionary lightweight alumimium design.

There is a very good chance that it is the ancestor of current Japanese engines.

The UK no longer has an automobile industry, the Chinese bought Rover,
the leftover that BMW sold to some spivs after they stripped Land
Rover technology, sold the shell to Ford, and kept the Mini (partly
because the factory site is very valuable land).

In my view, technology is the by product of manufacturing.
Stop manufacturing and you lose the edge.

Smart RealGreens - quite neat.

Somehow I smell a rat when people come up with 'Factor Intensities'
- something to do with having studied the subject, and knowing that
the tutors had no idea of the real world.

Ultimately it is down to natural resources 'Ricardo's Rent'
- or the cost of labour

Marx's 'capital' which I read as machinery, is very portable.

I would like to nip down to Highgate Cemetary and dig him up, just to
find what he really meant by 'capital'
- my guess is that he thought in neo-mercantile (new-mercantile) terms.