Against the Tide An Intellectual History of Free Trade / Douglas A. Irwin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Irwin, Douglas A., 1962-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Free trade.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (viii, 265 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates) : illustrations

Manufacture:

Baltimore, Md. : Project MUSE, 2021

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J : Princeton University Press, 1996.

Language Note:

In English.

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Summary:

About two hundred years ago, largely as a result of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, free trade achieved an intellectual status unrivaled by any other doctrine in the field of economics. What accounts for the success of free trade against then prevailing mercantilist doctrines? And how well has free trade withstood various theoretical attacks that have challenged it since Adam Smith's time? In this readable intellectual history, Douglas Irwin explains how the idea of free trade has endured against the tide of the abundant criticisms that have been leveled against it from the ancient world and Adam Smith's day to the present. An accessible, nontechnical look at one of the most important concepts in the field of economics, Against the Tide will allow the reader to put the ever new guises of protectionist thinking into the context of the past and discover why the idea of free trade has so successfully prevailed over time. Irwin traces the origins of the free trade doctrine from premercantilist times up to Adam Smith and the classical economists. In lucid and careful terms he shows how Smith's compelling arguments in favor of free trade overthrew mercantilist views that domestic industries should be protected from import competition. Once a presumption about the economic benefits of free trade was established, various objections to free trade arose in the form of major arguments for protectionism, such as those relating to the terms of trade, infant industries, increasing returns, wage distortions, income distribution, unemployment, and strategic trade policy. Discussing the contentious historical controversies surrounding each of these arguments, Irwin reveals the serious analytical and practical weaknesses of each, and in the process shows why free trade remains among the most durable and robust propositions that economics has to offer for the conduct of economic policy.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

ILLUSTRATIONS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION

Chapter One. EARLY FOREIGN TRADE DOCTRINES

Chapter Two. THE ENGLISH MERCANTILIST LITERATURE

Chapter Three. THE EMERGENCE OF FREE TRADE THOUGHT

Chapter Four. PHYSIOCRACY AND MORAL PHILOSOPHY

Chapter Five. ADAM SMITH’S CASE FOR FREE TRADE

Chapter Six. FREE TRADE IN CLASSICAL ECONOMICS

Chapter Seven. TORRENS AND THE TERMS OF TRADE ARGUMENT

Chapter Eight. MILL AND THE INFANT INDUSTRY ARGUMENT

Chapter Nine. GRAHAM AND THE INCREASING RETURNS ARGUMENT

Chapter Ten. MANOILESCU AND THE WAGE DIFFERENTIAL ARGUMENT

Chapter Eleven. THE AUSTRALIAN CASE FOR PROTECTION

Chapter Twelve. THE WELFARE ECONOMICS OF FREE TRADE

Chapter Thirteen. KEYNES AND THE MACROECONOMICS OF PROTECTION

Chapter Fourteen. STRATEGIC TRADE POLICY

Conclusion: THE PAST AND FUTURE OF FREE TRADE

REFERENCES

INDEX

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [231]-251) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

0-691-05896-2

0-691-21301-1

OCLC:

1227051999