Losing the barriers

In his all-time classic, Protection or Free Trade, published in 1886, American political economist Henry George provides one of the wittiest and most persuasive defences of free trade. At the time he wrote, the world was in the midst of the First Globalisation. Liberal trade policies had swept across the globe. Yet, his own country remained staunchly protectionist. Unsurprisingly, his axe fell on every conceivable argument protectionists of his day offered.

In the book, George observes that protection implies prevention and defence. In this vein, protective tariffs prevent foreign goods from flowing into our country. Unlike a flood, earthquake or tornado, which are acts of nature, flow of goods is the result of human action. He asks, who are the people whose actions lead to this flow of goods?

Foreign sellers may well be the answer. George reasons, however, that