But technological advances are fairly static. If you lead in some kind of technology, that tech won't suddenly cut you out, or cut you off. Plus, government doe

But technological advances are fairly static. If you lead in some kind of technology, that tech won't suddenly cut you out, or cut you off. Plus, government does tinker with its internal economy, protections etc. Another question is why goods are cheapet; cheap labour is often associated with poorer working conditions, and fewer consumer protections, relying on the "market" to deal with legal issues (e.g unsafe products) diesnt really cut it. Financial markets cherry pick their domains, heavily structured representations thereof - and they ate still known for being irrational and prone to panics etc. The point is "the wisdom of crowds" doesn't work against strategic trade attacks. Your answer to my question is based on your own metaphor of "steel produced in Iowa". There is no steel produced there, only a dependency on foreign steel. If an external country needs X that they would trade for steel, they still need X if they won't trade the steel; but maybe the US can use it's own steel.