Review 4: Trade Protection in the United States, by Charles K. Rowley, Willem Thorbecke & Richard E. Wagner (1995)
Reviewed by:
E.L. Whalen,
University of Texas,
Choice, (May 1996)
"Three economists from George Mason University begin this volume with a thorough review of international trade theory. Included in their review is an enumeration and assessment of a dozen arguments for trade protection. From their analysis they conclude that with few trivial exceptions a policy of unilateral free trade maximizes a nation's wealth and individuals' consumption opportunities. Yet, paradoxically, trade policy protectionism persists in the US. To explain the paradox, they develop an analysis showing that the organization of and interactions among the Congress, the president and the federal bureaucracy serve to facilitate and preserve trade barriers promoted by a select group of wealth-seeking producers and a revenue-seeking government. Evidence supporting their analysis is presented in a historical account of US trade legislation and negotiation from 1930 to 1988. The origins, limitations and performance of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade since 1947 also are reviewed. For a lasting correction of distortions created by restrictions on international trade in the US, the authors recommend constitutional reform limiting congressional power to impose tariffs and quotas on exports and imports. Recommended for upper-division undergraduate through faculty collections."
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