Warum der Freihandel fertig hat

The article presents central findings from our book “Free Trade Is Finished,“ which discusses the trade-off between security and economic policy objectives that has become apparent in recent years. We analytically derive which goods are to be classified as “critical” and formulate three criteria for this: no substitutability in the short term; immediate relevance for consumption; forced rationing in the event of a crisis or the existence of external effects. If these criteria are met, state interventions such as concentration tariffs or capacity markets can solve the procurement problem. In terms of game theory, trade wars can also be avoided by understanding foreign dependencies as a potential weapon in such disputes.