By John Tamny of RealClearMarkets
“Starvation, pauperism, and insufficient supply can only be removed from the masses by increasing the quantity to be divided among the masses.”Anti-Corn Law League, “A Plea for the Total and Immediate Repeal of the Corn Laws,” 1841.
When trade is considered by economists and commentators, too often the discussion centers on countries. This evolves from the misbegotten notion that countries, rather than individuals, trade.
Thanks to a facile approach to what is a very basic concept, we’re as a result bombarded with strange notions of trade “surpluses” and “deficits” as though free exchange could be anything but a positive. Happily, as former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan has reminded us, for “the world as a whole, of course, exports must equal imports, and the world consolidated current account balance is always zero.”
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