The Political Case for Free Trade

Edmund Dell

Chapter 14 in The Politics of Economic Interdependence, 1987, pp 195-202 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract Free trade these days needs all the support it can get. If therefore it can be shown that freer trade has a beneficial effect on the quality of international relationships, the conclusion will be welcome to anyone who cherishes freedom in international commercial transactions. Henderson argues thus: ‘contemporary trade interventionism has damaging consequences for the international system of states.’ It creates endemic friction between governments. Exercises in the use of economic power, for example against developing countries and against Japan, treat the countries concerned as second class members of the international community and represent a departure from ‘the principle of the equality of states’. Finally, trade interventionism can undermine attempts to bring order into international economic relationships by bringing into question the rules and procedures of the GATT (Henderson, 1983, p. 15).

Keywords: Free Trade; Protectionist Principle; Policy Humbug; Economic Conflict; Trade Interventionism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1987
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-349-18874-1_14

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DOI: 10.1007/978-1-349-18874-1_14

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