285 lines
14 KiB
Plaintext
285 lines
14 KiB
Plaintext
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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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IS THIS AN UNTAMPERED FILE?
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This ASCII-file version of Imprimis, On Line was
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packaged by Applied Foresight, Inc. (AFI hereafter).
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Every AFI-packaged ASCII version of Imprimis is
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distributed in an "-AV protected" ZIP file format.
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Source: Applied Foresight Inc. (CIS 71510,1042)" when
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Trust only genuine AFI-packaged archives ... anything
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else may be just that: ANYTHING ELSE.
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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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Imprimis, On Line -- February, 1993
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Imprimis, meaning "in the first place," is a free
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monthly publication of Hillsdale College (circulation
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435,000 worldwide). Hillsdale College is a liberal arts
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institution known for its defense of free market
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principles and Western culture and its nearly 150-year
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refusal to accept federal funds. Imprimis publishes
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lectures by such well-known figures as Ronald Reagan,
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Jeane Kirkpatrick, Tom Wolfe, Charlton Heston, and many
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more. Permission to reprint is hereby granted, provided
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credit is given to Hillsdale College. Copyright 1992.
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For more information on free print subscriptions or
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back issues, call 1-800-437-2268, or 1-517-439-1524,
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ext. 2319.
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---------------------------------------------
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"Free Trade in the 1990s"
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---------------------------------------------
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Volume 22, Number 2
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Hillsdale College, Hillsdale,
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Michigan 49242 February 1993
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---------------------------------------------
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Preview: The 19th annual Ludwig von Mises Lecture
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Series at Hillsdale College was held in the spring of
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1992, just as the issue of free trade was again
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becoming a headline issue in American politics. The
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benefits of a free global economy are egalitarian; it
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is true that "a rising tide lifts all boats." Free
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trade is not, according to the old mercantilist
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thinking, some zero sum game in which one nation or one
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individual wins at the expense of another. It offers a
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higher standard of living for all, dramatically
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improved goods and services, and an international
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division of labor that makes such goods and services
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for the first time affordable even for the poor, while
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creating millions of new jobs around the world.
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.....Throughout his life, the economist Ludwig von
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Mises argued that one of the fundamental causes of war
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among nations was economic nationalism. When nations
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look upon one another as economic enemies rather than
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as potential trading partners, their governments resort
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to political and economic intervention, retarding their
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own citizens' material well-being and creating
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conditions ripe for international tension and conflict.
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Free trade and peaceful market competition, Mises
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claimed, were the means for both prosperity and peace.
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---------------------------------------------
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"'Economic Justice' and the Chimera
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of Special Interest Politics"
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James Bovard Author,
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Fair Trade Fraud
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Fair trade, as the term is now used, means government
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intervention to direct, control, or restrict trade.
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Fair trade means government officials dictating what
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Americans will be allowed to buy and what prices they
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will be forced to pay.
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In some areas, America is one of the most
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protectionist industrial countries in the world. Our
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agricultural import quotas permit each American citizen
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to consume the equivalent of only one teaspoon of
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foreign ice cream per year, two foreign peanuts per
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year, and one pound of imported cheese per year.
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Congress is imposing over 8,000 different taxes on
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imports. While the average American tariff is now
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around five percent, some tariffs are in the
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stratosphere. Low-priced watches are hit with an
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average tariff of 151.2 percent. Tobacco stems must pay
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a 458.3 percent penalty. Tariffs on some low-priced
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shoe imports are 67 percent....Our dumping law is so
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comprehensive and arbitrary that the Commerce
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Department almost automatically convicts 95 percent of
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foreign companies....If this is free trade, then
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perhaps the federal income tax system is truly helping
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Americans by cutting their freedom of choice in how
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they spend their paychecks.
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---------------------------------------------
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"Economic Freedom and a
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New Liberal International Order"
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Richard M. Ebeling
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Ludwig von Mises Chair,
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Hillsdale College
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In the 19th century, the advocates of economic liberty
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and free trade could point to the injustice of a system
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that gave privileges to a few, while making the vast
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majority bear the burden. This old system of privileges
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and protections went against the grain of the new
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beliefs in political democracy and equal treatment
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before the law.
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.....With the spread of the democratic ideal and the
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enlargement of the voting franchise, people came to
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view government as no longer the master, but rather as
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the servant. But the servant for what? For equal
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protection before the law and equality in civil
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liberties, certainly. But unfortunately in the 20th
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century government is increasingly viewed as an agency
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that does things for the people, rather than merely
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acting as the "nightwatchman" who guards their life,
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liberty, and property.
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.....What people have increasingly wanted government to
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do is: guarantee their jobs and incomes; protect them
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from foreign competition and limit the entry of new
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competitors at home; assure them "living wages" for
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their labor, and "fair" and "reasonable" prices for
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their products; protect them from the common mistakes
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of everyday life; and relieve them of any
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responsibility for the community efforts that would
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otherwise demand of them charity and the giving of some
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of their free time. And all these guarantees,
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protections, and securities are to be provided at
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someone else's expense....The Age of Democratized
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Privilege has arrived. And with it has also come the
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New Protectionism.
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---------------------------------------------
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"The Technological Revolution:
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Destroying Global Economic Barriers"
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Richard McKenzie
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Professor of Economics,
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University of California-Irvine
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Author, Quicksilver Capital
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Many commentators fear that government regulators have,
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and will continue, to run roughshod over our freedom to
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trade. In my view, international trade has become freer
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over the last several decades, and it will only become,
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gradually but relentlessly, even freer as we turn our
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attention toward the 21st century...not because
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protectionists will ever lose their myopic focus on
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narrow self interests (to the detriment of the rest of
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society), and certainly not because politicians will
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become any more knowledgeable about the benefits of
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free and open world trade. (If we had to rely on a
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rejuvenation of our political leaders' courage and
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intellect, we would surely despair.)
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.....Rather, the politicians and policymakers will be
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brought, kicking and screaming, to freer trade, unaware
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that their growing impotency to cater to
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protectionists' appeals will be the result of
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reinvorated technological and economic forces that are
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far beyond the power of government to control....
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.....Today, technology permits people and their capital
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to be far more fugitive, far more capable of bounding
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over government borders, far more like quicksilver --
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slippery, elusive, and hard to contain and control.
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---------------------------------------------
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"A Monetary System for the Global Economy"
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Judy Shelton
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Senior Research Fellow,
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Hoover Institution
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Author, The Coming Soviet Crash
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We live in a world where the prices of internationally-
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traded goods are subject to the negotiating tactics of
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a clique of nations who rig the currency markets as
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they see fit. The value of the dollar or the yen or the
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deutsche mark is not determined by natural market
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forces so much as by the ability of government
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officials from the United States, Japan, and Germany to
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politically and economically intimidate each other and
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the other players in the world....
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We should not permit our finance officials to
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collude with other nations to manipulate the dollar
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exchange rate against Japan whenever Washington decides
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that Japanese-made goods are becoming too popular with
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American consumers. Why should we cede to government
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the right to spend untold sums in order to, in the
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parlance of the finance ministers, make "corrections"
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in the currency markets whenever officials deem it
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politically useful?
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The only proper foundation for an open world
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economy dedicated to free trade is sound money based on
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a universal standard of value that transcends the
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threat of protectionist devaluations.
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---------------------------------------------
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"An Open Letter to the President:
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Free Trade Works"
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Dick Armey
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U.S. House of Representatives (R-TX)
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Adam Smith virtually invented the discipline of
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economics in 1776 with the publication of his
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monumental treatise known today as The Wealth of
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Nations. The same year saw the birth of the greatest
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free market experiment in the history of the world -
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the United States. Here was proof that freedom works.
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.....It is important to note that Smith wrote in
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reaction against mercantilism -- the practice of trying
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to "create" wealth for a nation by restricting trade.
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Smith argued that only when individuals are allowed
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free exchange is real wealth created, and "what is wise
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and prudent in the affairs of individuals can scarcely
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be folly for nations." Later another classical
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economist, David Ricardo, refined Smith's argument by
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developing the principle of "comparative advantage."
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The lesson of this principle is just as individuals
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have differing talents and levels of productivity, so
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do industries and so do nations. No nation can have a
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comparative advantage in every industry. So it follows
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that every nation will prosper by exporting some goods
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and importing others. And this specialization works to
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the benefit of all nations.
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.....Armey's Admonition #1: Know that euphemisms for
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restricting trade are created by those who benefit from
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restrictions.
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.....Armey's Admonition #2: Be skeptical of gloomy
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prognostications from people who are in the business of
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peddling more government.
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.....Armey's Admonition #3: Beware those who
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manufacture data for the sake of promoting an agenda.
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.....Armey's Admonition #4: Never underestimate the
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ability of Washington to perceive the opposite of what
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is actually happening and to conjure up the data to
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support its perception.
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.....Armey's Admonition #5: Governments punish success
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and reward failure.
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###
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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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End of this issue of Imprimis, On Line; Information
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about the electronic publisher, Applied Foresight,
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Inc., is in the file, IMPR_BY.TXT
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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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