… is from page 42 of James Ingram’s 1966 book, International Economic Problems [original emphasis]:
Higher tariffs will tend to increase employment in import-competing industries, although this gain will be offset when exports fall – as they must, either because foreigners retaliate by raising their tariffs or simply because their ability to buy our goods declines when we stop buying theirs.
DBx: Trade policy has no long-term effect on the level of employment in a country. But trade policy does have an effect – short-term and long-term – on the kinds of employment opportunities that exist in a country. Free trade directs workers (and other resources) out of industries where they are less efficient and into industries where they are more efficient. Protectionism directs workers (and other resources) out of industries where they are more efficient and into industries where they are less efficient.
And yet protectionists continue to insist that their interventionist schemes will enrich the people of the country.
