Free trade is the only way to prosperity

Lost in today’s noisy trade debates is a simple but powerful truth: There are only four ways to get what you want.

You can receive a gift, steal it, make it, or trade for it. That’s it. Manna from heaven worked for the ancient Israelites, but in our vale of tears, scarcity implies we must be content with one of these four, more mundane means of satisfying our ends.

Each of these four methods has systemic properties. To see them, try to conceive of a society built around just one of these. Imagine, in other words, a society where one of these four systems was at least the dominant, if not the exclusive means by which people came to possess useful items.

Gifts? Sweet, but absurd at

Continue reading