Quotation of the Day…
by Don Boudreaux
on March 8, 2018
… is from pages 96-97 of the 2016 Third Edition of James D. Gwartney’s, Richard L. Stroup’s, Dwight R. Lee’s, Tawni H. Ferrarini’s, and Joseph P. Calhoun’s excellent Common Sense Economics:
Trade restrictions benefit specific producers and their resource suppliers, including some workers, at the expense of consumers and suppliers in other industries. Typically, industries lobbying the government for protection against foreign rivals are well-organized and their gains [from protectionism] are concentrated and highly visible, while consumers, other workers, and other resource suppliers are generally poorly organized and their gains from international trade widely distributed. Predictably, the organized interests will have more political clout (contributions and other forms of political support), providing politicians with a strong incentive to cater to their views.
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