Three things the American people don't understand about trade by Logan Albright | August 28, 2012 Photo from Big Stock Photo In the post-recession environment of high unemployment and slow growth, there has been a lot of talk about the need to protect American jobs and to rein in the trade policies of other countries (read: China) that are viewed as "unfair." It's an understandable outgrowth of domestic frustration and worry, but it betrays a misunderstanding of how trade really works. The problem with the way trade is discussed in politics and the media can be boiled down to three common misconceptions that crop up again and again. It is the aim of this article to correct these and explain to the reader the ways in which free trade is the antidote to, rather than the cause of, our current economic troubles Countries, unlike private companies, do not compete. If McDonald's sells me a hamburger, Burger King loses out on the opportunity to get my money. McDonald's wins, Burger King loses. So if China wins, that must mean America loses, right? Wrong. We live in a world economy now, which means that every country's success is to our benefit and every country's failure affects us as well. This point should be obvious when we examine the case of Greece. If any country can be said to have "lost," surely it's Greece, but if that is the case then who has "won?" We are not better off for Greece's failures; we