One could end up with the same problem after adopting
the term 'open markets'. Markets are never fully
'open', in the sense of being conducted in the absent
of any underlying rules, standards, etc. What is
important is not to change terminology, but to put the
Walrasian notion of pure exchange in its place- as a
thought experiment and nothing more. Adopting the term
open trade does nothing if the idea of Walrasian
competitive equilibrium remains as the central concept
in modern economic theory. Institutional factors will
be downplayed or ignored for as long as economists
continue to think of the Walrasian pure exchange model
as 'high theory'. Economists who think in terms of
pure exchange will end up with a mistaken notion of
efficient trade no matter how it is termed, so long as
they are educated in Walrasian terms.
Doug Mackenzie