A recent article by Daniel Griswold stresses the tangible, positive benefits of globalization in our lives. The main problem with promoting economic freedom is that its benefits are not easily visible. Griswold stresses in his article:
The consumer benefits of variety can be harder to quantify than a simple drop in price, but they are just as real. A 2004 study by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that the real incomes of American families are about 3 percent higher because of the greater variety that imports bring. That translates to a real gain of $1,300 per person or more than $5,000 for a family of four just from the expanding varieties that trade has brought to the marketplace.As I have stressed to environmentalists, you must stress the economic benefits before you can influence people to change their own behavior/beliefs. You cannot (or, at least, should not) force them to change. In this case, proponents of free trade must stress the benefits in as tangible and easy-to-understand manner as possible to win over the minds of economic isolationists.
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