Empires aren’t much use during peacetime. You have to bear the costs of administration, and what do you get in return? During wartime, however, an empire can be an invaluable source of men and materials. Great Britain probably wouldn’t have survived either of the two world wars without one.
So it is with globalization. You can certainly argue about whether the fruits of free trade have been distributed fairly within the developed countries, but that is a matter of internal politics; what cannot be disputed is that the world as a whole is much wealthier as a result of the current trade regime. Free trade is not realistically possible, however, in a pandemic or a war. What does that mean for the future?
If you’re Donald Trump, it proves that free trade is a mistake, and that we should be doing everything in our power to bring manufacturing back to the US. But do we really want to create an economy based on import substitution, like Russia’s? Do we want to live with poor quality, overpriced domestic products in lieu of imports 100 percent of the time because that system would work better 5 percent of the time?
No. Some adjustments should be made. Commodities that are absolutely essential to national security should be made here or stockpiled. Otherwise, trade should remain free, and there should be a strong, but rebuttable, presumption against protectionism in every circumstance.