> Can you explain the connection between free trade, covid/russian agression, and the economy? It's not obvious to me Negative externalities can happen such th

> Can you explain the connection between free trade, covid/russian agression, and the economy? It's not obvious to me Negative externalities can happen such that access to your trading partners is severely reduced or eliminated. In terms of COVID and China, the biggest trading center and very large (largest?) shipping port in China largely came to a grinding halt as the entire city was locked down for covid. Massive amounts of cargo ships were just stuck outside the port with nothing to do. This gummed up the entire inner workings of the international trade system and international shipping system, and this negatively impacted many economies due to lack of goods and increased cost of good that were available due to limited supply. In terms of Russian aggression, the main issue has been restricted access to Russian oil. Energy drives economies. If energy prices go up and/or supply goes down, it slows the economy.