The Ultimate One-Paragraph Case for Free Trade ...

... comes in fictional form, and from a "moderate left-wing" TV show, The West Wing. I've always loved the scene, and was glad to see Jake Scott do the work of pulling the monologue text at the Foundation for Economic Education. Here it is:

You want the benefits of free trade? Food is cheaper. Food is cheaper, clothes are cheaper, steel is cheaper, cars are cheaper, phone service is cheaper. You feel me building a rhythm here? That’s ’cause I’m a speechwriter and I know how to make a point. It lowers prices, it raises income. You see what I did with “lowers” and “raises” there? It’s called the science of listener attention. We did repetition, we did floating opposites, and now you end with the one that’s not like the others. Ready? Free trade stops wars. And that’s it. Free trade stops wars! And we figure out a way to fix the rest!

Mic drop, if that had been a thing back then. Whoever wrote that particular bit should have followed up with a book -- How to Make an Irrefutable, But Not Boring, Argument in 110 Words.