Tariff Idea

By W.M. Curtiss

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0910614466
• ISBN13: 9780910614467
• Release Date: December 1972
• Publisher: Foundation for Economic Education
• Length: 81 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.8" x 0.3" x 5.3"
• Grade Range: Grades 9 to 12

Customer Reviews

The absurdity of trade restrictions

The analysis of The Tariff Idea starts with Frederic Bastiat's illustration of "the evils of trade restrictions" (p. 7) drawing on Defoe's Robinson Crusoe classic. Having recently met a foreigner, Robinson and Friday debate the value of foreign trade. Friday favors specialization in the production of vegetables where the two have a comparative advantage over the foreigner whose comparative advantage is in hunting (game). Robinson would have none of that, for he counts labor as wealth. To give up labor is to give up wealth and along with it self-sufficiency. TheTariff Idea is about how dangerously common the Robinsonesque notion of trade restraints was then, and is still today. The book expounds on the different justifications and uses of tariffs, including exposing their misuses and abuses. What do tariffs really do, and what are the implications of what they do? In the end the book concludes that free exchange tramps restricted exchange, notwithstanding the desire for self-sufficiency. This is an outstanding book, by clearly a very well read person. Curtiss writes well: concisely and clearly. Considering that it was printed in 1953 and it is still readable today, the book has done pretty well. Highly recommended!! Amavilah, Author Modeling Income Determinants in Embedded Economies : Cross-section Applications to US Native American Economies ISBN: 1600210465