[Toddsterpatriot]

After WWII, the US, Europe, and Japan were not at the same economic level. Japan and Europe were still recovering from the effects of a devastating war.

I know. You said " Free trade among areas that are not at the same level of economic development ends in exploitation and conflict"

So did we exploit them or did they exploit us? Or were you wrong?

[quadrant]

We neither exploited them nor did they exploit us, except in the most general sense. With an incredible and unprecedented act of generosity (the Marshall Plan) we aided former enemies and allies in their attempts to regain economic vitality. They recovered, but you must not forget that the 1950’s were a period of great economic growth and power for the US. Many US corporations became multinational powers during the decade. If during later periods our economic domination slipped, such a fall was inevitable and in any event we have no one but ourselves to blame for our economic troubles.