Unlike my great, late teacher Leland Yeager, I am a work-a-day economist of no particular distinction and in possession of no great talent or intelligence. But among my few accomplishments was persuading Liberty Fund to publish an on-line version of Leland’s remarkable 1954 pamphlet, Free Trade: America’s Opportunity. (I must say that this achievement required little in the way of persuasion: Leland’s pamphlet, although now decades old, is so brilliant, timeless, persuasive, and clearly written that Liberty Fund did not hesitate to agree to publish it on-line.)
Here’s the pamphlet’s opening paragraph:
Free Trade is the policy of competitive private enterprise in international trade, of reliance on the free market, of governmental noninterference with imports and exports. Protectionism is the policy of curbing imports for the supposed benefit of the home economic system.
I encourage you to read the entire pamphlet, which is available free-of-charge on-line. Here, again, is a link to it. It’s not very long and, as I said above, it’s written with Leland’s characteristic clarity and care.
