Any country or region which has a strong sustainable economy will have great policy guidelines that would be optimal for future growth without means of any aggressive protectionism or expansionism. Over the time the trend is seen that very liberal economies are scaling back to conservative approach and vice versa. Often, I would like to think that many so-called liberal economies are not liberal enough to compete with protectionism is causing such administrative/economic model changes. In that sense competition is limited at the top level due to policy making where in at bottom level it is more lenient towards protectionism. Also controlled economies are necessary as well to keep the competition in check (like low pricing, manufacturing at scale etc) till we reach a point of equilibrium market scenario across world. Too much protectionism often leads towards expansionism where in otherwise market itself limits the resources available for growth. The analogy would be that of a dam built over the top restricting the flow of water downwards. It is essential to keep the flow of resources even in a controlled way even to generate power otherwise would weaken the dam itself. Whether they are big or small everyone should have a stake to lose, rather than system balancing the equation. Meaning, forcefully restricting smaller economies to grow will eventually become a bigger threat than direct competition itself for any sizable economy.
If we look at the policy guidelines of free market/liberal economies in past (US, UK, Switzerland, Singapore, Hong Kong, UAE etc), it is transparent enough to figure out. The implementation flow would look like this: 1) Strong Police Force and Legal System for less corruption and streamlined execution of policies. example: UN suggests 222 police officers per 100,000 people as a general guideline 2) Strong Administration with Specialists across Government (or similar) Functions for detailed policy making 3) Foreign Language Acceptance with Single Business Language 4) Regulated Immigration 5) Strong Private Sector with open Cross Boarder transactions 6) Taxes channeled to improve infrastructure that support growth (Roads, Airports, Public Infrastructure etc). 7) Mandatory Corporate and Individual Social Responsibility norms. And in case of a region which is not neutral as per geo political views a Strong Army is needed as well. Also, tax adjustments are effective/possible only if the economy is relatively cheap or with a surplus in balance sheet. The missing piece of such countries is that they are failing to expand the tail or address concerns at the bottom end. For example, if a particular country would allow cream layer immigration, then the natives will naturally end up as support seekers which will eventually lead to protectionism. The other way to equalize this is to evolve in technology so that grass root opportunities are no longer necessary. We could think of highly efficient robots in our kitchen, doing chores at home/offices etc to relate to. May be even conceptual humanoid robots with organic brain driven by system itself working alongside us becomes reality. By that time, I'm sure we would be in a position to trust the system more than we trust ourselves. Now back to present, in every economy, bottom layers (bottom 10%-20%) needs some kind of support almost with certainty to catch up. Rather than becoming overhead to administration itself it should be supported with sufficient policy guidelines so that incentives are provided to private players that support such causes. Also, this will create competitive pricing within every economy. For larger countries in terms of area, we could think of regional stock exchanges with transparent disclosures (example: State wise) that allows even smaller businesses to access capital to be competitive and to expend rather than becoming complacent enough to fold due to competition from big firms/with economical alternatives. And global firms should choose to list (what's beyond controlling stake if necessary) in respective country's stock exchanges rather than listing only in parent country. This will create more competitiveness in performance as well as a sense of sharing wealth than hoarding in parent country. No to mention it as the easy way to access capital for further and faster downstream expansion. Almost all living beings are biophilic, implies we have a tendency to prefer and connect with natural things. Over the time recreational centres could replace small businesses as more businesses are going towards a 'digital only' front considering that fact. Impact of AI technologies, block chain etc. will accelerate such trends.
System has carefully/strategically positioned developing and under developing countries now to utilize this opportunity better, I would say. Preserving founding values and culture is necessary as well. Privatization efforts with negligible corporate/income tax could prepare for international competitiveness with fewer grab rails like teaching culture, history, mother tongue etc alongside of keeping a common business language. Even religion/beliefs to some extent, so that citizens are capable enough to choose what's right for the world or future. Diversity is often seen as 'Market Segments' in words of market researchers if allowed to say. Nature was the biggest trade-off in the past, for any pursuit for advancements. System might not tolerate such ways of growth any more. This should be addressed with utmost care. Concerns regarding agriculture, forests, wildlife, climate, minorities, regional job creation opportunities (with import tariffs if in-house production viable) etc should be factored in during policy making. Failing to comply should be taxed heavily or even severely scrutinized. After a stage of maturity, each economy should strive to achieve a sense of self sufficiency across all sectors, if possible without monopoly due to over production/consumption. Closed/restrictive economies bring in advantages of efficiency due to control, they should focus more on affordability of products/services provided so that all efforts are reached to under privileged countries/regions, also parallelly competing with expensive ones to bridge the gap. Utilizing technology will accelerate implementation with less overhead (in terms of people requirement, research cost etc) over time. Also, open cross boarder tourism policies can contribute to knowledge sharing and to bring in best practices effortlessly adding value in many ways like reducing geopolitical friction among nations. Rather than Individual/Populist perceptions which may appear quick wins, it is high time to have a holistic view which would foster harmony over a course of life time.