Just came across this quote. Can't thank Guerilla enough for really opening my eyes to economic thought.
Economic Protectionism - Economic Insights - FRB Dallas
http://www.abanet.org/intlaw/committees/industries/energy_natural_resources/InvestorsPaperNo6.pdf
From the first link:
No policy has failed as often, or been as widely applied and enthusiastically believed, as economic protectionism. Ever since the rise of the modern nation-state in 15th century Europe, and with it the birth of international trade, the doctrine economists call mercantilism has dominated the thinking of the majority of the world's peoples and, therefore, most of their political leaders. In spite of masterful dissections and refutations of mercantilism by Adam Smith, David Ricardo and Frédéric Bastiat, the protectionist dogma remains powerfully alluring for tens of millions of people around the world.
If economists made a list of things they generally agree on, free trade would likely be at the top of the list. Yet it remains a hard sell for the general population. And so we offer you this short primer by our colleague Dwight Lee on the costs of protectionism. Like Dracula, protectionism never really dies, and we who support free trade must always keep our intellectual wooden stakes sharp and ready.
— Bob McTeer
President and Chief Executive Officer
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
Economic Protectionism - Economic Insights - FRB Dallas
http://www.abanet.org/intlaw/committees/industries/energy_natural_resources/InvestorsPaperNo6.pdf
From the first link:
No policy has failed as often, or been as widely applied and enthusiastically believed, as economic protectionism. Ever since the rise of the modern nation-state in 15th century Europe, and with it the birth of international trade, the doctrine economists call mercantilism has dominated the thinking of the majority of the world's peoples and, therefore, most of their political leaders. In spite of masterful dissections and refutations of mercantilism by Adam Smith, David Ricardo and Frédéric Bastiat, the protectionist dogma remains powerfully alluring for tens of millions of people around the world.
If economists made a list of things they generally agree on, free trade would likely be at the top of the list. Yet it remains a hard sell for the general population. And so we offer you this short primer by our colleague Dwight Lee on the costs of protectionism. Like Dracula, protectionism never really dies, and we who support free trade must always keep our intellectual wooden stakes sharp and ready.
— Bob McTeer
President and Chief Executive Officer
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
