The truth about free trade
Those who would discredit the economic policies of the Ma administration on statistical grounds must expect to have their own economic prescriptions discredited, since they share the same tacit premises.
International trade free from all taxes and restrictions does not benefit particular nations or states — providing “benefits” is not the point. The point is to allow all people, regardless of ethnicity, politics, religion or any other arbitrary divider, the freedom to pursue their own self-interest without interfering with the freedom of others.
The purpose of state institutions stands in logical opposition to the existence of the free market. Contrary to popular opinion, western nations do not “benefit” from free trade since it simply does not and cannot exist so long as there are state regulations.
There are regions of the UK in which the state accounts for 60 percent or more of the regional economy — greater than eastern Europe under the former Soviet Union.
Those who decry economic liberalization and free trade as the “voodoo economics” of “neo-liberalism” are either opposed to individual freedom or they are simply the confused victims of mixed premises.
MICHAEL FAGAN
Tainan
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