… is from page 9 of C. Donald Johnson’s 2018 book, The Wealth of a Nation: A History of Trade Politics in America:
In the formation of American trade policy, politics has nearly always trumped economics.
DBx: Don Johnson – a former member (D-GA) of the United States House of Representatives – is a free-trade Democrat who has been much involved on the ground over the years in the formation of the details of trade policy.
…..
Blackboard ‘proofs’ that these or those trade restrictions, if implemented by omniscient angels, would promote the public welfare are, at best, only of academic interest. Because no policy will ever be designed and implemented by omniscient angels, it is scientifically illegitimate – and practically dangerous – to disregard the realities of policy design and implementation. Yet it is only by disregarding these realities that protectionists make their case for protectionism.
