Whatever his latest rhetoric, Trump has helped show that—just as economists feared—the idiocy of trade protectionism is contagious.

The nation-based “balance of international payments” accounting system is misleading and nonsensical.

My new monograph, A Trade Policy for a Brexited Britain, was published on Friday by the Institute of Economic Affairs. Here is a brief synopsis: Adam Smith once observed that “Consumption is the sole end and purpose of all production; and the interest of the producer ought to be attended to only so far...
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President-elect Donald Trump’s so-called Carrier deal, which seems to amount to a threatening conversation he had with Carrier’s managers, combined with some tax concessions by the state of Indiana, exemplifies the approach he has more or less announced he will take in dealing with U.S. companies that propose to move operations abroad. He threatens...
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As the markets and pundits react to Donald Trump’s enormous upset victory, let me offer my own reactions. As an economist, I will focus on matters pertaining to economic policy. The Danger of Hubris and Denial. Everybody recognizes that the “experts” and polls were totally wrong. Indeed, I was listening to NPR around 6...
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There are different ways to gauge the rise of protectionism. An obvious one is to count, as Global Trade Alert does, the number of measures adopted by various countries affecting competition from outside. Some 4,000 new barriers to trade have been adopted worldwide since 2008. Another way is to look at the trend in...
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Donald Trump promises to “Make America Great Again.” Unfortunately, his “us versus them” view of economic exchanges, prominent in his “America doesn’t win anymore” rant, would fail introductory economics. And his protectionist promises cannot make us great again, only less great and poorer. Trump’s protectionism rehashes a bogus patriotism argument. Imports are pilloried as...
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America is a country founded on the principle—regardless of how imperfectly carried out in practice—that all men* are created equal. We celebrate and honor the value of the individual, endowed irrevocably with the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We cherish the American Dream that, regardless of the circumstances of birth,...
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“Competition always has been, and always will be, disagreeable to those who are affected by it. Thus we see that in all times and in all places men try to get rid of it.” —Frédéric Bastiat Last week, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) sent cease-and-desist letters to app-based, ride-sharing services Uber and...
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Writing for CNBC’s “Behind the Money,” John Melloy describes the findings of a recent survey of investors: Institutional investors fear a government policy mistake far more than inflation, terrorism, a housing double dip, a weak dollar, poor earnings or any other potential risk to the economy, according to a survey of 100 mutual fund,...
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