Protectionism can’t enrich the country as a whole, only boost certain individuals and industries while impoverishing the rest.
Donald J. Boudreaux
Donald J. Boudreaux is a senior fellow with American Institute for Economic Research and with the F.A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University; a Mercatus Center Board Member; and a professor of economics and former economics-department chair at George Mason University. He is the author of the books The Essential Hayek, Globalization, Hypocrites and Half-Wits. He writes a blog called Cafe Hayek and a regular column on economics for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Boudreaux earned a PhD in economics from Auburn University and a law degree from the University of Virginia.
Tariffs Don’t Save Industries — Markets Do
In reality, America’s industrial capacity – the ability of the American economy to produce value in the form of industrial outputs – is today at an all-time high.
Free Market Fundamentals and NatCon Inconsistencies
Endorsing individuals’ freedom to trade with foreigners is simply of a piece with the more general endorsement of individuals’ freedom to trade with whomever they please, whether fellow citizens or not. The protectionist position, in contrast, invariably relies upon arbitrary distinctions that ensnare protectionists in intellectual and ethical inconsistencies.
On The Biden Administration’s 100% Tariffs on Electric Vehicles (EVs)
Must the US counteract Beijing’s subsidies with high tariffs?
America’s “Trade Deficit” With China
Just as there’s absolutely no reason for you to worry about the trade deficit that you have with your physician or your grocer, there’s absolutely no reason for us Americans to worry about the trade deficit that America has with China.
American “Protectionism” Means Putting America Last!
Americans should ask protectionists such as Donald Trump and Josh Hawley just how America is put ‘first’ by US government trade barriers that constrict ordinary Americans’ freedom to spend their incomes as they choose.
Biden’s Protectionism Isn’t “All About National Defense”
Biden’s protectionism is overwhelmingly and above all about expanding and cementing his political support by creating rents for special-interest groups.
The Justice of an All-Volunteer Military
The most equitable and just sharing of the burden of America’s military is assured by its all-volunteer nature, and that conscription would be inequitable and unjust.
Should We Panic Over Excessively Low Global Temperatures?
Cold weather kills about ten times the number of people who are killed by hot weather,
Can America “Absorb” More Immigrants?
America’s ability to “absorb” immigrants is greater today than it was in the past.
Legalization of Cocaine: Respectfully Disagreeing With George Will on the Drug War
Ending the war on drugs would significantly shrink the scope of law-enforcement officers’ incentives and abilities to violate the civil and property rights of Americans – even, indeed chiefly, of Americans who do not and would never use hard drugs, be these legal or illegal.
In Defense of Collusion In a Free-Market Under Capitalism
History provides very few actual examples of private firms that are unprotected by government-erected barriers to entry successfully colluding in ways that harm consumers.
The So-Called “Trade Deficit”
The conventional tale of trade deficits fails so utterly to square with reality because tellers of this conventional tale never seriously bother to attempt to understand why foreigners are willing, decade after decade, to send to America more goods and services than they receive in return from America.
On the Mercantilist and Monarchial Origins of the Concept of the ‘Balance of Trade’
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.
Cleaned by Capitalism and Soiled by Socialism
Another example of “Soiled by Socialism” is government-mandated low-flow water faucets, showerheads, and toilets.
“Common Good Capitalism” vs. Capitalism
Far from ordinary Americans being crushed in the last few decades by globalization and the entrepreneurial dynamism ordinary Americans’ economic opportunities have expanded and their standard of living has skyrocketed.
Unilateral Free Trade: An Open Letter to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak
Advocate and work for a removal of all protective barriers erected by the British government without concern for whether governments in the US and elsewhere follow suit. Were you to pursue a policy of unilateral free trade, you would honor – by following it – Britain’s glorious free-trade tradition.
The Knowledge Problem: National Conservative Industrial Policy vs. Capitalism’s Free Market
National conservatives believe that the allocation of resources brought about by the free market is in fact a less-efficient allocation — one that is worse for the country — than is the allocation that would be brought about by their industrial policy.
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.
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.
Is the Wealth of American Capitalism the Result of Slavery?
“No, Sarah, Our Prosperity Wasn’t Extracted from Slaves”
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