We seem to have been doing just fine competing in that world up to now.
The civil war was fought over tarrifs and industrial policy. If Abraham Lincoln had believed in Adam Smith, the civil war would not have happened. The fruits of those policies coupled with our free internal systems propelled us to world dominance and, for a period of time after WW-II, we were the only nation on earth left with a manufacturing capacity which was still relatively intact.
ANY theory could look good under those circumstances, but circumstances change. And, unless republicans get some sort of a handle on present realities involving jobs and outsourcing and the like, their circumstances are going to change too...