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International Trade - Theory and Policy, 2010a

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9.8 Public Goods <strong>and</strong> National Security<br />

LEARNING OBJECTIVES<br />

1. Learn that public goods, which have the features of being nonrival <strong>and</strong> nonexcludable<br />

in consumption, are a type of market imperfection.<br />

2. Recognize that a trade policy can be used to correct for a public good imperfection.<br />

3. Learn the first-best <strong>and</strong> second-best policy options to correct for a public good<br />

imperfection.<br />

One of the oldest <strong>and</strong> most common arguments supporting protection is the “national security argument,”<br />

also called the “national defense argument.” This argument suggests that it is necessary to protect certain<br />

industries with a tariff to assure continued domestic production in the event of a war. Many products have<br />

been identified as being sufficiently important to warrant protection for this reason. Perhaps the most<br />

common industry identified is agriculture. Simply consider the problems that would arise if a nation did<br />

not have an adequate food supply when it was at war with the outside world. Low food stocks may induce<br />

severe hardships <strong>and</strong> even famine. A simple solution to avoid this potential problem is to maintain a<br />

Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/books<br />

Saylor.org<br />

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