Free Trade & Trade Policy

Trade and Immigration Controls Assault the Right to Life

by Sheldon Richman September 1, 1994

Ask Americans if they believe in the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and they will say yes. But ask if they believe people should be allowed to buy all the imported products they wish without tariffs or other restrictions, and they will say no. Ask if citizens ...

Classical Liberalism in Argentina: A Lesson for the World

by Jacob G. Hornberger July 1, 1994

Two centuries ago, Adam Smith asked a very fundamental question: what are the nature and causes of the wealth of nations? Note that Smith did not ask what most people today ask — that is, what are the causes of poverty? Smith understood that poverty had always been the natural state of mankind. He wanted to know something much ...

National Conflicts, Market Liberalism and Social Peace

by Richard M. Ebeling May 1, 1994

For three years, civil war has caused massive death and destruction in the former Yugoslavia. Almost every day, the television evening news has broadcast pictures of devastating artillery bombardments, ruined towns and villages, and multitudes of killed and wounded men, women and children. Tens of thousands of people have been turned into refugees forced to leave their homes and belongings ...

Cooperation Between Capital-Rich and Labor-Rich Countries, Part 2

by Milton Friedman May 1, 1994

Part 1 | Part 2 The Common Market has an enormous opportunity. The Eastern European countries are a natural extension of the Common Market, and the Western European countries could benefit themselves and the Eastern European countries by opening their markets. We could do the same. We have talked for decades about trade, not aid. Yet we are now ...

The Ghost of Protectionism Past: The Return of Friedrich List

by Richard M. Ebeling April 1, 1994

The cover of the December 1993 issue of The Atlantic Monthly had a caricature of Adam Smith running away while being chased by a rain of rotten apples, stones and copies of a book with the name Friedrich List on their covers. The caption under the drawing said, "Move over Adam Smith. Some of the world's strongest economies ...

Cooperation Between Capital-Rich and Labor-Rich Countries, Part 1

by Milton Friedman April 1, 1994

Part 1 | Part 2 Thank you very much, Mr. Ambassador, for that kind introduction. Ed Crane, Luis Pazos, all of the people who have made this event possible, it is a pleasure to be here. The atmosphere and the climate in which I am here are very different than they were the only other time I was in Mexico ...

What President Clinton Should Have Said to the Japanese, Part 3

by Jacob G. Hornberger December 1, 1993

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 At the end of World War II, the United States was the economic leader of the world. Since our geographic territory had not suffered the ravages of war, we led the world in the production of goods and services. A devastated Europe and Japan eagerly accepted American products, not so ...

Free Trade, Managed Trade and the State, Part 5

by Richard M. Ebeling December 1, 1993

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 In the 1870s, English classical economist Henry Faucett warned, "I think it cannot be doubted that protection must exert an inevitable tendency to foster . . . socialistic demands for State assistance. If a people are accustomed as they must be under ...

The Case for Legalized Prostitution

by Paul Armentano December 1, 1993

Prostitution may be the world's oldest profession, and laws prohibiting prostitution may well be the oldest example of government regulation and government (sex) discrimination. In a free society, however, all such laws are inappropriate because they violate the basic rights and liberties of the individuals involved. Recent research indicates that over one million women in the United States earn their ...

What President Clinton Should Have Said to the Japanese, Part 2

by Jacob G. Hornberger November 1, 1993

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. government arrested American citizens of Japanese descent, placed them in American concentration camps, and confiscated their assets. There were no indictments. There were no trials. There were no convictions. These Americans were simply rounded up, taken away, ...

Free Trade, Managed Trade and the State, Part 4

by Richard M. Ebeling November 1, 1993

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 "The Protectionist creed rises like a weed in every soil," lamented the English classical economist Walter Bagehot in the 1880s. "Every nation wishes prosperity for some conspicuous industry. At what cost to the consumer, by what hardship to less conspicuous industries, that ...

What President Clinton Should Have Said to the Japanese, Part 1

by Jacob G. Hornberger October 1, 1993

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to visit Japan and to speak to you, the Japanese people, during my first year as president of the United States. I am here not only to fortify friendships between our nations, but also to announce major changes regarding relations between the U.S. ...