[pbourke]

This is an insightful comment that clarifies and distills some of my own thinking on the subject.

The blind pursuit of efficiency optimizes for the macro numbers at the expense of gutting the structure of the labor market and lived experience of people.

It’s far better to have a lower per capita GDP with a more equitable distribution of resources (such as a higher household income across quantiles)

It seems clear that some level of tariffs, caps on FDI, etc are “good inefficiencies” if done correctly.

[pjlegato]

In efficient, highly optimized economies such as the United States and most of the European Union, the border guards' job is to prevent people from entering and participating in those economies illegally.

In the countries with low GDPs and highly equitable distribution of resources -- North Korea, East Germany, Cuba, the Soviet Union, for example -- the border guards' job is to prevent people from escaping.