Opinion Article: Liberalist by Andrean Rendra

During the Era of Discovery, and then later during the age of colonialism the mercantilist Economy dominated the world, it was not until the 19th to 20th century that Liberalist views are embraced and accepted by the people of the world. And it is today in the 21st century the view on the global trade and economy is influenced by liberalism. although recent trends have seen that countries imposed tariff imports and in the worst case scenario banning goods entirely all to protect their domestic industry. but I believe that it is beyond any reasonable doubt that these mercantilist based decisions will only be temporary as the global economy is still recovering from the recent recession.

In my opinion the Liberalist view is the best perspective to explain global trade especially now in this 21st century contemporary era because. first is that the removal of costly and delaying trade barriers, such as tariffs, quotas and conditions, inherently leads to easier and swifter trade of consumer goods, in today world this is very important because it will make the product more affordable to consumer. second is the use of less expensive materials and labor acquired through free trade leads to a lower cost to manufacture goods, this will maximize the profits for the companies and leads to a rise of employment  rate in the country of production. then The theory is that as businesses grow from greatly increased sales and profits, demand will grow for middle-class higher-wage jobs to facilitate the sales increases. fourth free trade benefits poorer, non-industrialized nations through increased purchases of their materials and labor services by more industrialized nations

like all views I will not deny that liberalism have its flaws for example Under a system of completely free trade, capital and labor would be employed wherever conditions are most favorable for production. Other locations would be used as long as it was still possible to produce anywhere under more favorable conditions. To the extent to which, as a result of the development of the means of transportation, improvements in technology, and more thorough exploration of countries newly opened to commerce, it is discovered that there are sites more favorable for production than those currently being used, production shifts to these localities. Capital and labor tend to move from areas where conditions are less favorable for production to those in which they are more favorable. this will impact workers in other countries who are being exploited and harmed. and this will defile environment in other countries, also The impact on workers in countries as India, Indonesia, and China has been even more severe, with innumerable instances of starvation wages, child workers, slave-labor hours and perilous work conditions.

But in all its flaws Liberalism is still more advantageous than Marxist Structuralist which dreams of a Utopia where everybody is equal, but then again how can everybody be equal when in the same theory explains "exploitation" is inevitable in an economic systems, this does not makes sense, control of trade by the state would only lead to economic stagnation and a lack of innovation. Realist Mercantilist view on the other hand although correct that states are selfish and think only for their own benefits and gain is not always right, in liberalism although states would only fend for themselves cooperation is inevitable in today's world as everything is becoming more interconnected and any nation that still hold their mercantilist  belief i doubt they will survive this century, or even this decade

from all of those explanation in my conclusion that Liberalism is the best view for global trade because of its flexibility, respects of human rights, not imaginistic such as structuralist and optimistic unlike mercantilist and it is beyond reasonable doubt that as world develops and technology moves forward thanks to world cooperation and optimism, soon all the disadvantages of Liberalism will be eliminated.

by Andrean Rendra 1701350714

source: http://usliberals.about.com/od/theeconomyjobs/i/FreeTradeAgmts.htm

http://mises.org/liberal/ch3sec7.asp