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RE: CENTRAL BANKS prints money like THERE IS NO TOMORROW! Is there any other option other than to join that madness?
There has been a trend toward anti-trade. The U.S. creating tariffs harms trade. The UK with Brexit reduces free trade. In the 2016 election, Hilary Clinton started as a Pro TPP candidate, but then flip on the position because both Trump and Bernie Sanders were anti TPP which is anti-trade.
As an economist we push for more trade not less lol. Economics has a lot of situations where there are hidden cost and benefits. Self sufficiency and trading both have some pros and cons. For me its not a matter of trade or no trade. Its matter of what you should be self sufficient in and what should you trade for?
To me it is pretty clear that you trade for things that you can't otherwise make/extract/harvest on your own.
If a country were going to try to plan their economy and decide what to make or what the trade for they would make this decision in a way that is similar to how businesses make the in house vs outsource decision. You make what you have a comparative advantage in and you outsource everything else. The reason for this is that as long as transaction cost are low the gains from trade will make you wealthier.
Of course there are security concerns as well. Not just wealth. For example, food might be cheaper to outsource, but you do want to be self sufficient in food because you don't want other countries manipulating food prices in your country.