Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, pandering to anti-trade activists, suggest that should they become president, they will restrict trade agreements. Before you buy into their promised paradise, there are a few trade questions you might...
Trade
Subsidized “Free Trade” Is Not Free Trade
For a small-scale corn farmer driven out of business in Mexico by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the fancy economic theories about the benefits of "free trade" might not seem too believable. As the theory of comparative advantage goes, we're all...
Joseph Stiglitz on How Not to Fix the Global Economy
Such global “trade imbalances” are not a problem. They are a profoundly important means of preventing problems. What will cause a problem is allowing wreckers, devoid of serious knowledge of economics, to “fix” things.
Offshoring and Balance of Trade Deficits
Offshoring has not resulted in a decline in the American economic system but just the opposite.
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.
The Anti-Free Trader’s True Enemy
There's the "Free Trade but Fair Trade" crowd, and the "Level Playing Field" crowd, and the "America First" crowd, all calling for tariffs and other international trade restrictions. Their supposed adversary is corporate America, seeking to boost profits by either...
The Case for Free Trade
The fear of other people’s intelligence and ability applied to the production of goods we consume is not only profoundly wrong but also extremely dangerous.
Republicans vs. The Free Market: Tariffs and Trade Restrictions on Imports
On Nov. 18, the Bush administration announced a decision to impose new trade restrictions on imports of some Chinese textiles. Although rationalized as a means of saving American manufacturing jobs, no trade expert thinks it will have more than a trivial effect in...
Principles and Policy: Will Bush Trip Over Pears?
Once the Bush administration abandoned the principles of free trade by imposing punitive tariffs on imported steel, it was only a matter of time before other industries sought government redress for their own failure to compete successfully. Case in point: Pears....
Free Trade with a Slave State?
Q: Should a free country trade with people who live under a dictatorship (e.g. China, Cuba)? And, if not, should the government of the free country restrict such trade with dictatorships? A: If you enjoy living in a free country, then you benefit from that freedom...
Free Trade: Why Think Local When You Can Go Global?
If Bush administration officials think they have their hands full shepherding the president's tax-cut package through a closely divided Congress, wait until they turn their full attention to reviving a moribund U.S. trade policy. As U.S. Trade Representative Robert...
Let There Be Free Trade
Leaders of 34 American countries are meeting this weekend in Quebec City at the Summit of the Americas to discuss the establishment of a free trade zone extending from Canada to Chile. A Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) is a top priority of the Bush...
“Protectionism” vs. Human Rights
Is the protection of domestic jobs more important than the protection of individual rights?
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