Free Trade
Donald Boudreaux expounds on the "logic" of protectionism, with the help of a manure machine:
Let's revisit some of the 'logic' of protectionism. Many people today are torn by the age-old worry that trade with foreigners will reduce domestic employment or wages or both. The logic of this fear, such as it is, isn't. Indeed, the illogical, baseless, and factually mistaken beliefs that sustain fears of free trade are too numerous to review even in any decent-size book, much less in a single blog-post.
So let's keep this entry short by asking a simple question of all protectionists: if a machine were discovered that, with only water combined with dried leaves or dirt or animal manure, could at the mere flip of a switch produce almost unlimited quantities of high-quality automobiles, household furniture, life-saving pharmaceuticals, personal computers, cell phones, clothing, and chia pets, would humankind suffer from this discovery?
Read the whole post here.
You can see Dr. Boudreaux debate Thea Lee, national policy director of the AFL-CIO, at Bucknell on November 2 at 7PM in the Vaughan Lit (Trout) Auditorium on the topic "Is Free Trade Good for America?" Dr. Boudreaux will be arguing in favor of his manure machine!
The debate is part of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute's Cicero's Podium: Great Issues Debate Series, and will be cohosted by the Bucknell Conservatives Club and the Students for Fair Trade (with far too many cosponsors to mention).
Let's revisit some of the 'logic' of protectionism. Many people today are torn by the age-old worry that trade with foreigners will reduce domestic employment or wages or both. The logic of this fear, such as it is, isn't. Indeed, the illogical, baseless, and factually mistaken beliefs that sustain fears of free trade are too numerous to review even in any decent-size book, much less in a single blog-post.
So let's keep this entry short by asking a simple question of all protectionists: if a machine were discovered that, with only water combined with dried leaves or dirt or animal manure, could at the mere flip of a switch produce almost unlimited quantities of high-quality automobiles, household furniture, life-saving pharmaceuticals, personal computers, cell phones, clothing, and chia pets, would humankind suffer from this discovery?
Read the whole post here.
You can see Dr. Boudreaux debate Thea Lee, national policy director of the AFL-CIO, at Bucknell on November 2 at 7PM in the Vaughan Lit (Trout) Auditorium on the topic "Is Free Trade Good for America?" Dr. Boudreaux will be arguing in favor of his manure machine!
The debate is part of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute's Cicero's Podium: Great Issues Debate Series, and will be cohosted by the Bucknell Conservatives Club and the Students for Fair Trade (with far too many cosponsors to mention).
posted by BUCC at 3:54 AM
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