The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible - Bastiat Institute

24 Chapter 5 • Candles and Coats
When goods don’t
cross borders,
soldiers will.
Frederic Bastiat, 1850
Sanctions prevent
the peasants from
creating wealth.
Anonymous
Whatever cause
you champion, the
cure does not lie in
protesting against
globalization
itself. I believe the
poor are poor not
because of too much
globalization but
because of too little.
Kofi Annan,
Secretary General of
the United Nations
Brainstorming
• Is it good for people to get free light and heat
from the sun?
• Who objects?
• Are the objections to imports similar?
• What groups object to people buying cheap
products from other countries?
• Why?
• Do consumers suffer when imports are
banned?
• How do groups stop imports of low-cost
goods?
• Examples?
• What ethical issues are there?
Commentary
The title of this chapter is in reference to one
of Frederic Bastiat’s famous essays on candle
makers. The candle makers wanted to ban the
light and heat from the sun, and so create
an artifi cial need in order to “protect” their
country’s industry.
Imports: Governments’ import restrictions
are not aimed at foreigners. These restrictions
penalise consumers by forcing them to buy
higher-priced or lower-quality products than they
would prefer. By raising prices, trade barriers
also deprive us of the savings that we could use
to buy other products that would be generated by
employment in new industries.
Thus, if one has fi ve coins and can pay one
coin for the imported product, then one has four
coins to buy other things. But if the import is not
allowed, then one may have to pay fi ve coins for
the domestic product and there will be nothing
left to buy other goods.
The excuse offered for import restrictions is
that governments are “patriotically” protecting
domestic jobs and companies. However, as