Chang shows how the entire debate over trade has divorced itself from history and economic reality. Phrases like “free trade,” in fact, are misnomers unto themselves, leading the world into a globalization debate whose basic premises are inaccurate. But that’s not all that is inaccurate. Chang says that while the media and political elite lead us to believe industrialized countries achieved their wealth by eliminating tariffs, history suggests it’s exactly the opposite: The strategic use of tariffs is precisely what built the industrialized world into an economic powerhouse.
The Free Trade Heretic (via azspot)
