The Trouble with Trade

The Flatline Economy
Angry Charts
Two Out of Three
Second Thoughts on Free Trade
Free & Fair
Maine, New York, Montana, and Iceland
‘When goods don’t cross borders, armies will.’
– Frequently attributed to Frdric Bastiat
‘Free trade agreements are trade agreements that don’t stick to trade.’
– Ralph Nader
‘The future has arrived. It’s just not evenly distributed yet.’
– William Gibson, circa 1993 in an interview (original version of the quote)
The political speech-fests are finally over. Republicans and Democrats conducted largely violence-free quadrennial conventions – but not because everyone loves each other. The disdain was palpable, both within and between the two parties.
On one topic, however, both campaigns agree: global free trade has jumped the shark. We haven’t seen this kind of protectionist rhetoric in a long time, at least from major party candidates. Globalization is taking the blame for a wide variety of ills. The trouble with all this dissing of globalization and free trade is that, like some generals, both major political parties are fighting the last war, not the ones we face today and tomorrow. And the Libertarian Party seems to think that the correct philosophy by itself will cure the problems, which it may do in the long run; but philosophy doesn’t pay the bills or create jobs in the short run.

This post was published at Mauldin Economics on JULY 31, 2016.