The Disintegration of the World Economy

Free trade means free from government intervention. Free international trade is exploding. From 8 per cent twenty-five years ago, it has grown to 16 per cent of the combined domestic products of international trading partners. For the United States alone it accounts for 14 per cent of GNP. By virtue of its size, the American economy is the world’s largest exporter. This means that one out of every nine American jobs is in an export industry. And one in every seven GNP dollars is earned from sales to foreigners. On the import side, one of every four cars, 60 per cent of all televisions, 40 per cent of clothing and two-thirds of all shoes are produced outside the United States.