A Cornell economist makes the case for unilateral free trade … for India:

Reciprocity has become the watchword in many aspects of trade and financial integration. Take the example of banking. Indian bankers rightly complain that the US severely restricts Indian (and other foreign) banks from setting up operations, while India allows US banks to operate relatively freely. But allowing foreign banks promotes competition, improves services, and is good for the consumer, no matter what the US does. The same is true for trade and environmental policies. … Unilateral disarmament is not always a good idea. It may not be desirable when the game is truly zero sum, such as in negotiations about relative voting rights at the IMF and World Bank. But too many policies are approached as zero sum games when they are not.

Can you imagine a U.S. politician saying “Free trade is good for America, no matter what China does”?

The Russians have a flat tax, India is (slowly) going free-trade … and what are American presidential candidates talking about again? Oh, yeah:

Promoting programs, like Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters, that provide new parents with support and guidance in caring for their children. As First Lady of Arkansas, she helped bring HIPPY to the U.S.

In all fairness, I suppose she did help bring a certain hippy something to the U.S.