Are trade treaties a hindrance to progress or a facilitator?
Adam Smith answered this in _The Wealth of Nations_. By reducing and eliminating trade barriers, treaties increase wealth and innovation. One proposal I’ve seen that I whole-heartedly endorse is to unilaterally remove barriers to imports from the poorest nations. While the impact on the U.S. economy would be slight, the impacts on the poor countries’ economies would be huge by giving them access to the U.S. market. This is the single greatest intervention that the U.S. can do to reduce poverty.
