OK, Free Trade Sounds Great, But What About Morals?
Written by YellowJacket on January 17th, 2007We at SaveTheGOP and other bloggers love to point out this or that statistic about economic growth justifying our love of free markets, and on a global scale, free trade. People often counter with moral questions of their own, usually focused on producers of goods at home (”you can’t do that! you’re making us ship jobs overseas!”) or the poor. How are our policies helping them, they ask? Isn’t our desire for unhampered free trade only good for oil barons and the Donald Trumps of the world?
Luckily Daniel T. Griswold from the CATO Institute has an article titled “Seven Moral Arguments for Free Trade.” Here are Griswold’s seven moral arguments:
1. Free trade respects the dignity and sovereignty of the individual.
2. Free trade restrains the power of the state.
3. Free trade encourages individuals to cultivate moral virtues.
4. Free trade brings people together across distance and cultures.
5. Free trade encourages other basic human rights, such as freedom of speech and religion.
6. Free trade fosters peace by raising the cost of war.
7. Free trade feeds and clothes the poor.
I’d recommend that everyone read the article in its entirety to read Griswold’s explanation of each moral. It’s a great ode to the benefits of a global free market.
17
PM
Hey. Informative article and a pretty good argument for free trade. But why then is there such opposition to immigration?
17
PM
There isn’t opposition to immigration. There is opposition to illegal immigration and rewarding those who have broken our laws, stifled emergency rooms, and skirted around taxes. I am all for welcoming immigrants to this nation, and I’m opposed to granting citizenship to those who are here illegally before those who apply through the appropriate legal channels.
17
PM
While agreeing with the list at most points, civil wars seem to show number six as a less than universal rule. Also, pre-World War I trade barriers were often lower than they are even today.