It is argued that the United States would be foolish to maintain a free-trade stance in a world in which all other countries exploit child or prisoner labor or are protectionist. On the other hand, Ricardo's classic demonstration of the sources and effects of comparative advantage cogently demonstrates that regardless of other country policy, free trade remains the first best policy for a country to follow, since it will maximize its consumption possibilities (conditional upon other country policies). (a). Explain in detail the economic theory between first best and second-best and (b) discuss the contradiction with the argument in the preceding paragraph.
