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Originally posted by Spanky
Trade restrictions are always special ineterest proposals. They temporarily benefit a small number of people to the dentriment to the short term and long term benefit of the entire society. The argument between restricted trade and free trade is just as moot as the argument between socialism and capitalism. Any argument against free trade is just rehashed arguments used by socialist for economic statism.
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I'm not talking about trade restrictions. I'm talking about a package that includes (a) removing trade restrictions, and (b) some kind of benefits for the people who get screwed as a result. (Like we compensate who have their property taken when the government wants to do something better with it.)
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That argument can be made for anyone who gets pushed out by scientific progress or greater efficiencies, not just free trade. It is just another example of the old man who makes stagecoach wheels and can't do anything else.
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The difference being that free trade, unlike scientific progress, is a political decision, not a fact of nature.
