Milton Friedman once said that “there is no alternative way, so far discovered, of improving the lot of the ordinary people that can hold a candle to the productive activities that are unleashed by a free enterprise system.” For most people in the world, this is a convincing argument. Not, however, for the Peronists who have dominated Argentina’s politics for the past 70 years. Ranked 138th out of 179 countries in The Heritage Foundation’s 2011 Index of Economic Freedom, Argentina’s economy continues to head in the wrong direction. The government’s …
There’s a very old political rule getting a new twist in the House of Representatives right now: When your policies fail, blame someone else. The new twist is: When unemployment is above the level you said would be a catastrophe, and you’re on the road to bankrupting the country in the meantime, start talking about Chinese currency. This is apparently the plan for congressional protectionists in 2011. There will always be Members and interest groups demanding that government restrict the ability of American consumers and firms to make their own …
Today marks the 81st anniversary of the passage of the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act. Actor and economist Ben Stein famously explained this legislation in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, the classic John Hughes movie that was released 25 years ago this month: In 1930, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, in an effort to alleviate the effects of the…Anyone? Anyone? The Great Depression, passed the—Anyone? Anyone? The tariff bill? The Hawley–Smoot Tariff Act, which—Anyone? Raised or lowered? Raised tariffs in an effort to collect more revenue for the federal government. Did it work? …
The latest study by the McKinsey Global Institute reveals some astonishing facts concerning contributions of U.S. global companies to the American economy. According to the report: With their share less than ONE percent of the total number of U.S. companies, U.S. international companies employ almost 20 percent of the U.S. private sector labor force. That small portion of U.S. global companies has accounted for nearly half of total U.S. merchandise exports since 1990 and contributes over 70 percent of our private sector’s R&D spending. These benefits from going global should …
The latest outbreak of creeping global protectionism is in Brazil, which announced March 8 that it intends to levy nearly USD$600 million in increased import duties on more than 100 products made in the U.S. in retaliation for the United States’ failure to comply with a World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling against its subsidies for cotton producers and exporters. According to “World Trade\INTERACTIVE,” the Brazilian government also plans to impose the first-ever WTO-legal cross-retaliation measures on U.S. intellectual property rights holders that could lead to more than USD$200 million in …
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) is a man of his words, sort of. He told people he wanted to get a global warming bill that capped carbon dioxide out by Memorial Day and he did: Legislation imposing the first nationwide limits on the pollution blamed for global warming advanced in the House late Thursday, clearing a key committee despite strong Republican opposition. The Energy and Commerce Committee approved the sweeping climate bill 33-25 after repeatedly turning back GOP attempts to kill or weaken the measure during four days of debate. The …
The crisis in Russia is revealing new features proving it is quite unlike the global downturn. Last week saw numerous actions protesting a hike in import duties on foreign cars that were staged in an array of Russian provinces. The government had passed a decision to the effect to protect domestic carmakers. This dealt a massive blow to many provinces. The truth is that auto making is localized in Russia’s European area, and shipping cars to Siberia and the Far East racks up their sales price, especially at the backdrop …
Free trade has been receiving a bad rap lately. Barack Obama’s campaign has come out in full force against free trade. In addition to clumsily saying he would unilaterally renegotiate NAFTA (much to the chagrin of Canada and Mexico), during the third presidential debate Obama voiced opposition to the Colombian free trade agreement under the guise of “human rights.” Yet according to a recent editorial in the Wall Street Journal, labor union members, the contingent against whom human rights abuses have been aggressively exercised, are now much safer under Alvaro …
Barack Obama has frequently called the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) “a bad deal.” During one Democratic primary debate, Obama even said he would unilaterally “use the hammer of a potential opt-out” to “renegotiate” the entire treaty. But after he secured the nomination, Obama changed his tune, admitting that NAFTA was not so bad after all, and telling Nina Easton: “Sometimes during campaigns the rhetoric gets overheated and amplified.” If you find Obama’s rhetoric on trade inconsistent, do not expect to learn much from his voting record either. He …
As bad as many conservatives thought the Clintons were, at least they helped forge a bipartisan consensus on free trade. They helped pass NAFTA and demonstrated leadership in helping to create the World Trade Organization. But now that Bill and Hillary Clinton have been pushed aside, Sen. Barack Obama’s Democratic Party is proudly announcing that it has every intention of becoming fiercely protectionist. This at a time that the U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon is calling for renewed leadership on free trade to help solve the world hunger crisis. According to …
