As a general concept, free trade has many supporters. Most of us agree that trade with other nations is a good thing. We get stuff that we would not otherwise have and/or it is much cheaper. Examples include many food items that grow only in special climates, such as fruits and vegetables. Some foodstuffs cannot be grown here, or they can be grown only in special climate-controlled facilities. If the U.S. prohibited the importation of these foreign foods, we would not have them at all or they would be very high priced and, therefore, not available on the mass market. Therefore, it is not difficult to advocate free trade in these items, although even here the U.S. shamefully prohibits the free importation of sugar cane from poor Caribbean nations and corn from poor African nations, just to name two of the most egregious protectionist policies. These are nothing more than gifts to mostly rich American sugar and corn producers, at the expense not only of the American consumer but also, perhaps more importantly, at the expense of poor farmers in the Caribbean and Africa. (Read more from patrickbarron.blogspot.com)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 13th, 2010 at 4:15 am and is filed under Austrian School.