Is globalization a threat or an opportunity for the U.S. economy?
(4) What can policies do to help U.S. workers? Why are most economists in favor of free trade? Basically, the argument is that everyone benefits when countries specialize in the type of production at which they’re relatively most efficient. Consider this analogy with the family: No family tries to make everything that it eats, wears, and enjoys. If it’s cheaper to buy something or have someone else do something, that’s what a family does. Then individual family members can concentrate on becoming good at their jobs in order to pay for what they buy. A nation is no different. If it costs less to make certain products abroad than it does in the U.S., then it’s difficult to argue that U.S. consumers and U.S. companies should pay more for those products from U.S. producers. Instead, it makes sense to purchase those products more cheaply from abroad, whether they’re hard goods, like VCRs, or services, like call centers. Then we can devote our resources to producing and exporting those goods
