What are your thoughts on economics?

Hi, guys! Today i would like to ask your opinion on economics... i'm aware it's a pretty complex topic and not many people really care about it, but i think that, due to the political situation of the world now (especially the US with its SJW "debating" economics with people like Ben Shapiro, for example), and the political situation of specific countries who are pretty polarized when it comes to politics, a bunch of people have some sort of opinion on how to manage the economy of a country.

I, myself, am pretty "nationalist" when it comes to economics... i live in Brazil and my country has a bunch of natural resources that aren't explored by the State, and, therefore, those resources do not give my country any kind of power in the political world stage, unlike Russia which nationalised most of its natural resources and now has a bunch of european countries in its hands because they rely on Russia's supply of natural gas and oil, for example. So, i personally think that a country should have state companies running businesses regarding natural resources such as oil, steel, natural gas et coetera, or, at least, national companies that can be controlled in some sort of way by the government (because having natural resources is so important that, to be honest, you can't let them fall into the hands of foreign nations. As an example, 51% of the ore resources in my country are explored by two foreign mining companies... one of which belongs to Canada, a country which has criticized mine in the past).

But, on the other hand, i defend that the individual must be able to work in a free market that doesn't regulate everything they do...

What are your thoughts?