Describing as “favorable” a situation in which the people of the home country ship many real goods and services to foreigners and receive in exchange lesser amounts of real goods and services, with the difference made up in money, is indeed – as Adam Smith called it – absurd.
Trade
The Freedom of Production and Trade Under Capitalism (Part 3 of 10)
An appropriate vehicle for the establishment of the freedom of production and trade, whether all at once or gradually, would be the establishment of one last regulatory-type agency: the Deregulation Agency.
The Amazing Benefits of International Trade
Trade allows each of us to turn our unique talents into the fruits of the talents of everyone with whom we trade.
National Conservatives, the American System, and the Founders
While Hamilton, who died in a duel in 1804, did indulge protectionist arguments during his stint as Secretary of the Treasury, the rebranding of Jefferson and Madison as American System enthusiasts runs directly contrary to historical evidence.
Unions Should Not Be Protected Against Suits for Deliberate Property Damage
Unions must go about their objectives of trying to organize workers without committing acts of destruction.
Individuals, Not Government Subsidies & Tariffs, Have a Comparative Advantage at Improving Comparative Advantages
There is no plausible case to be made that for us Americans to improve our comparative advantages, we need the government to protect any of us from foreign competition, other than the protection of individual rights.
Fair Trade Is Still a Fraud
Government cannot make trade more fair by making it less free.
Biden Administration Embraces Trump’s Mercantalist Economics
The Biden Administration has decided to extend Trump’s mercantilist trade policies. Hostility to free trade Is now officially bipartisan.
Celebrate Capitalism This May Day
We should not only allow global capitalism; we should welcome it and foster it in every way possible. It is time to rephrase Karl Marx: Workers of the world unite for global capitalism; you have nothing to lose but your poverty.
President Donald Trump is a Classic Mercantilist
Trump is a classic mercantilist. A mercantilist favors exporters over importers and the use of government tariffs to promote (or “protect”) less efficient, but politically favored “national champion” companies against their foreign competitors.
Free Trade vs. The Folly of Protectionism
Protectionism fully implemented across all industries would mean a lower standard of living, because it would result in capital and labor unnecessarily being diverted into the production of goods that could more economically be produced elsewhere.
President Trump’s Wuhan Virus War: Protectionism Magnified
The false principle that fueled Trump’s trade war relates closely to his authoritarian response to the Wuhan (Covid-19) virus.
Medical-Supply Nationalism vs Free-Market Capitalism
When there is a shortage of medical supplies, going out of our way through nationalism, mercantilism, and “protectionism” to make them more expensive will hurt people. Free-market capitalism and free-trade amongst nations is the rational solution.
The Case for Global Capitalism
The human condition has been and can continue to be radically and amazingly improved, if only personal freedom and free markets are allowed to work their wonders on our global community of free trade and networks of voluntary association.
Not as Good as NAFTA: United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA)
The best aspect is that it keeps intact 90 percent of the old NAFTA; the worst is that what is mostly new and unique in USMCA is protectionist and economically destructive.
Case for Unilateral Free Trade (with Exceptions)
The coherent and correct case for free trade is, again, a case for unilateral free trade, one that applies to each country individually (with exceptions for isolated circumstances such as national defense).
How Much Damage Will Come from this Trade War?
First, the good news: the U.S. and world economies have not imploded, so far, as fallout from the rising trade tensions between the Trump administration and Xi Jinping’s government in China. Now, the bad news: there is no certainty that this will not play itself out...
Protectionists in Plunderland
If we Americans are indeed made better off the greater are foreigners’ demands for our exports, how are we made worse off by foreigners’ economic success given that such success invariably increases their demands for our exports?
U.S. Constitution Gives the Trade Power to Congress Alone
Republicans must join with Democrats to end Trump’s tariff authority. They should repeal these “emergency” laws that allow the president to unilaterally impose new taxes on Americans, in defiance of the intent of the framers of the Constitution.
Donald Trump: America’s Economic Commissar of Trade
Besides making Americans poorer than they otherwise need to be due to Trump’s tariff wars, the president has arrogantly used executive authority to arbitrarily impose higher import taxes (or their threat) at his own discretion and whim.
‘Buy American’ is un-American
A patriotic American acts as a capitalist and an individualist: he buys the best, wherever it may be found.
Trump’s China Blunder
By mistaking the real nature of international trade, the costs of tariffs, the effects of currency movements, and the supposed ease with which the United States could quickly re-establish itself as a low-cost manufacturer, Trump risks shredding the safety nets that have undergirded the U.S. economy for decades and plunging us into a war we are ill-equipped to fight.
Trump Tariffs are a Tax on the American People
Tariffs are paid directly from American businesses to the government’s coffers.
The Global Economy Needs Freedom for Peace and Prosperity
At the end of the day, the balance of payments always balances.
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