I think the situation with China is forcing US policy circles to finally concede that free markets don’t bring freedom and democratization. The arrow of causal

I think the situation with China is forcing US policy circles to finally concede that free markets don’t bring freedom and democratization. The arrow of causality works in only one direction, freedom -> free markets. The former is a prerequisite for the latter, not a result of it. Free trade between a free market economy and an authoritarian nation results in mercantilist behavior on the part of the latter toward the former, with a range of net detrimental outcomes to the former.