Deconstructing the argument for free trade: A case study of the role of economists in policy debates
Economics and Philosophy 28 (1):1-30 (2012)
| Abstract | This paper argues that, in light of the apparent settled nature of economists’ judgement on the issue of trade liberalization, the profession has stopped thinking critically about the question and, as a consequence, makes poor-quality arguments justifying their consensus. To develop support for this claim, the paper first recounts what economic analysis can say about trade liberalization. Then it analyses the quality of the arguments that economists make in support of free trade. The paper argues that the standard argument made by economists in favour of free trade is either incoherent or implicitly imposes philosophical value judgements about what is good for a nation or society, or it makes leaps of empirical faith about how the world works. The paper concludes with suggestions for better arguments | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,701 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesNicole Hassoun (2011). Free Trade, Poverty, and Inequality. Journal of Moral Philosophy 8 (1):5-44.
Reza Ghorashi (1995). Marx on Free Trade. Science and Society 59 (1):38 - 51.
Nicole Hassoun (2009). Free Trade and the Environment. Environmental Ethics 31 (1):51-66.
Daniel Finn (1994). International Trade and Sustainable Community: Religious Values and Economic Arguments in Moral Debates. Journal of Religious Ethics 22 (2):213 - 273.
Fernando R. Tesón (2012). Why Free Trade is Required by Justice. Social Philosophy and Policy 29 (1):126-153.
Mathias Risse (2007). Fairness in Trade I: Obligations From Trading and the Pauper-Labor Argument. Politics, Philosophy and Economics 6 (3):355-377.
Patricia J. Arnold & Terrie C. Reeves (2006). International Trade and Health Policy: Implications of the GATS for US Healthcare Reform. Journal of Business Ethics 63 (4):313 - 332.
William Milberg (1996). The Rhetoric of Policy Relevance in International Economics. Journal of Economic Methodology 3 (2):237-259.
John Dobson (1993). TNCs and the Corruption of GATT: Free Trade Versus Fair Trade. Journal of Business Ethics 12 (7):573 - 578.
Gotlind B. Ulshöfer (2000). A Whiteheadian Business Ethics and the Western Hemisphere. Journal of Business Ethics 23 (1):67 - 71.
Roberto Fumagalli (2011). On the Neural Enrichment of Economic Models: Tractability, Trade-Offs and Multiple Levels of Description. Biology and Philosophy 26 (5):617-635.
Jonathan Perraton (2011). Explaining Growth? The Case of the Trade–Growth Relationship. Journal of Economic Methodology 18 (3):283-296.
Olof Johansson-Stenman (1998). On the Problematic Link Between Fundamental Ethics and Economic Policy Recommendations. Journal of Economic Methodology 5 (2):263-297.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2012-03-24Total downloads20 ( #61,563 of 549,119 )Recent downloads (6 months)2 ( #37,390 of 549,119 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
