22.07.2013 Views

Not a Zero-Sum Game - Ludwig von Mises Institute

Not a Zero-Sum Game - Ludwig von Mises Institute

Not a Zero-Sum Game - Ludwig von Mises Institute

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

had in mind when he said, "The first condition of a planned econ-<br />

omy is that it be a closed economy."3<br />

In establishing a free economic system for the United States, the<br />

Framers mandated free trade among all the states in the union.<br />

They spelled this out in Article I, Section 9, of the Constitution:<br />

No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any state. No preference<br />

shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports<br />

of one State over those of another: nor shall vessels bound to, or from, one<br />

State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another.<br />

At 54 words, this was the original North American Free Trade<br />

Agreement. As we shall see, the 1994 agreement that goes by that<br />

name makes a travesty of free trade.<br />

The damage done by restrictions on international trade became clear<br />

to most people during the debacle of the 1930s. Once World War I1<br />

had ended, the popularity of fiee trade surpassed Macaulay's fond-<br />

est hopes. Yet in many ways truly free trade was not in keeping with<br />

the tenor of the postwar times. Free trade requires neither complex<br />

laws nor ponderous bureaucracies. With the establishment of the<br />

United Nations, the World Bank, and the International Monetary<br />

Fund, the world was moving in the opposite direction. So postwar<br />

governments sought managed trade rather than free trade. While the<br />

establishment of the proposed International Trade Organization was<br />

avoided fiee trade was not restored.<br />

3. Cited by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. in "Who Killed Free Trade?" The Free Market 14,<br />

(April 1996): p. 2.

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!