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March 1, 2005
Are Beliefs in Free Trade Guided by Faith?
Don Boudreaux throws down the gauntlet. Do you think Thomas Franks will take him up on this challenge?
Tuesday, March 1, 2005This was a letter to the editor of the New York Times Book Review.
Dear Editor:
Thomas Frank besmirches the case for free trade (“American Psyche,” Nov. 28th). First, he assumes that free trade is largely and only pro-business and, hence, that it is forced on us by “corporate power” and “industry lobbyists." Not so. Show me a tariff and I’ll show you corporations lobbying for it. Show me a tariff cut and I’ll show you corporations that fought the cut as well as consumers paying lower prices and workers in jobs that would have been otherwise impossible.
Second, he smears free traders as being devotees of a “false religion” guided by “faith.” So charged, this free trader challenges Frank to a public debate – face to face, or in writing – on the merits of free trade versus protectionism. I promise to use, not faith, but only reasoned arguments and abundant empirical evidence. Contrary to Frank’s assertion, the preachers of false religion are the protectionists who, lacking evidence and coherent arguments, faithfully proclaim that protecting domestic suppliers from foreign competition is key to economic salvation.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Posted by Peter Mork at March 1, 2005 9:45 AM
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