From: lessgovt@gmail.com   
      
   Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In   
   government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that   
   hold economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist and left-wing   
   political parties    
   generally support protectionism,[1][2][3][4] the opposite of free trade.   
      
   Most nations are today members of the World Trade Organization multilateral   
   trade agreements. Free trade was best exemplified by the unilateral stance of   
   Great Britain who reduced regulations and duties on imports and exports from   
   the mid-nineteenth    
   century to the 1920s.[5] An alternative approach, of creating free trade areas   
   between groups of countries by agreement, such as that of the European   
   Economic Area and the Mercosur open markets, creates a protectionist barrier   
   between that free trade    
   area and the rest of the world. Most governments still impose some   
   protectionist policies that are intended to support local employment, such as   
   applying tariffs to imports or subsidies to exports. Governments may also   
   restrict free trade to limit    
   exports of natural resources. Other barriers that may hinder trade include   
   import quotas, taxes and non-tariff barriers, such as regulatory legislation.   
      
   Historically, openness to free trade substantially increased from 1815 to the   
   outbreak of World War I. Trade openness increased again during the 1920s, but   
   collapsed (in particular in Europe and North America) during the Great   
   Depression. Trade openness    
   increased substantially again from the 1950s onwards (albeit with a slowdown   
   during the 1973 oil crisis). Economists and economic historians contend that   
   current levels of trade openness are the highest they have ever been.[6][7][8]   
      
   Economists are generally supportive of free trade.[9] There is a broad   
   consensus among economists that protectionism has a negative effect on   
   economic growth and economic welfare while free trade and the reduction of   
   trade barriers has a positive effect    
   on economic growth[10][11][12][13][14][15] and economic stability.[16]   
   However, in the short run, liberalization of trade can cause significant and   
   unequally distributed losses and the economic dislocation of workers in   
   import-competing sectors.[11][17][   
   18]   
      
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