«
»

NYT Guest Op-Ed: Grand Old Protectionists

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/06/opinion/06lighthizer.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

 

 

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 6th, 2008 at 12:06 PM and filed under Articles, Economics, Politics. Follow comments here with the RSS 2.0 feed. Skip to the end and leave a response. Trackbacks are closed.

3 Responses to “NYT Guest Op-Ed: Grand Old Protectionists”

  1. ben stagg said:

    In a world which is forming into very discernable trading blocks, words like ‘free trade’ and ‘globalisation’ do not mean what they did.
    In the same sentence, the article talks about the weak dollar and letting China in the door via free trade. In fact,the weak dollar will help increase US exports and impede China’s progress.
    Free Trade is certainly not a conservative or a left wing policy. It can be espoused by either group depending on the prevailing circumstances.
    One of the present considerations is the cost and pollution incured in the transportation of goods. This was previously not on the agenda, and therefore Free Trade in recent times has become more of a conservative notion. It is what makes the writer uncomfortable because this was not always so.

    Posted on 07-Mar-08 at 3:13 am | Permalink
  2. ben stagg said:

    The writers discomfort comes from the fact that ‘Free Trade’ is not a traditional conservative preserve. However, with the far greater definition of the Trading Blocks which are now emerging in the world, the phrase ‘Fair Trade’ is developing a new meaning, also there is the consideration of cost and pollution incurred in the transport of goods, which was not previously on the agenda.
    All this has swung ‘fair trade’ into more of a conservative proposition.

    Posted on 07-Mar-08 at 3:50 am | Permalink
  3. ben stagg said:

    Free Trade does not mean what it did. The trading blocks around the world are far more defined today and will be even more so tomorrow.
    There is also now far greater consideration of the issues of transport cost and pollution than there was before.
    This has put free trade much more in the conservative camp than was true before, which is making the writer of this article uncomfortable.

    Posted on 07-Mar-08 at 4:16 am | Permalink

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.