Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
V O LU M E 1 N U M B E R 2
Catos
Letter
A Q U A R T E R LY M E S S A G E O N L I B E R T Y
Globalization Is Grrrreat!
Tom G. Palmer
Senior Fellow, Cato Institute
free
Subscriptions
elimination of state-enforced restrictions on ex-
changes across borders and the increasingly integrat-
ed and complex global system of production and ex-
to Catos Letter change that has emerged as a result. The pressing
are free. See questions are what the effects of
inside for details. globalization actually are and
whether theyre beneficial or harmful.
The core policy issue is whether a
border should be used to stop trans-
actions that would be allowed if both
www.cato.org
C A T O S L E T T E R
V O LU M E 1 N U M B E R 2
www.cato.org
C A T O S L E T T E R
V O LU M E 1 N U M B E R 2
foundation
Conflict. Protectionism is based on a
mentality and a corresponding set of
policies that emphasize the opposing
interests of nations. Free trade, in con-
Trade
trast, links nations together in peace. is at the very
Theres an old adage: when goods can-
not cross borders, armies surely will.
civilization
things you can make cheaply and
through the other door would come
things youd like to have but that cost
you more to produce. Australians could
herd sheep in one door and out the
other door would come cars and photo-
copiers. And Japanese could push VCRs
and stereos through one door and pull
ist typing them up, which costs less in
terms of lost legal argumentation, since
5
petroleum, wheat, and aircraft through the typist is better at typing than at ar-
the other. The inventor of that machine guing law. Total joint output is higher
would be hailed as a benefactor of and each receives more income. Thats
mankinduntil Ralph Nader or Pat one reason why trade is so closely con-
Buchanan showed that it was a port! nected with peace, as well. Its because
Then, instead of being hailed as a bene- people can see their fellow humans as
factor, the inventor would be vilified partners in mutually beneficial coopera-
as a destroyer of jobsand unpatriotic, tion, rather than as deadly rivals, that
to boot. But whats the difference be- human society is possible in the first
tween such a marvelous machine and place. Trade is at the very foundation of
trade? human civilization.
Free Trade Is the Fastest Route to exchange. But fundamental rights
the Elimination of Child Labor. should be equal for all humans, and the
Around the world approximately 250 right to engage in trade is a fundamen-
million children labor. The percentage tal right, one enjoyed by all humans, re-
of children who labor has fallennot gardless of on which side of a border
risenwith rising trade and globaliza- they may live. Free trade is not a privi-
tion, and for pretty obvious reasons. lege; it is a human right.
Poor countries are not poor because Trading is distinctively human. It dis-
children work. Children work because tinguishes us from all the other animals.
they are poor. When people become Its based on our faculty of reason and
richer through production and free ex- our ability to persuade. As Adam Smith
change, they send their children to noted in a lecture on March 30, 1763,
school, rather than to the fields. Global The offering of a shilling, which to us
trade is the fastest route to the elimina- appears to have so plain and simple a
tion of child labor and its replacement meaning, is in reality offering an argu-
by child education. ment to persuade one to do so and so as
it is for his interest. As he noted, other
Trade, Openness, and Globalization animals may cooperate, but they dont
Support Accountable, Democratic trade, and they dont trade because they
Government and the Rule of Law. dont employ reason to persuade.
As trade barriers have fallen, the share of Not only is trade distinctively
world governments classified by Free- human, it is also a distinctive feature of
dom House as democracies has in- civilization, as Homer observed in The
creased dramatically. Of the top 40 per- Odyssey. In Book 9, when Odysseus tells
cent ranked according to economic of reaching the land of the Cyclops, he
openness in Economic Freedom of the offers some thoughts on why the Cy-
World (copublished by the Cato Insti- clops is a lawless brute. Odysseus ob-
tute), 90 percent are rated free by serves that
Freedom House. By contrast, in the bot-
tom 20 percent, that is, the most closed The Cyclops have no ships with
economies, fewer than 20 percent are crimson prows,
rated free and more than 50 percent No shipwrights there to build them
are rated not free. Mexico is a good good trim craft
case in point; the opening of the Mexi- That could sail them out to foreign
can economy through the North Ameri- ports of call
6 can Free Trade Agreement made possi-
ble the victory of President Vincente
As most men risk the seas to trade
with other men.
Fox and the breaking of the monopoly
on power of the Institutional Revolu- The Cyclops is a savage because he does
tionary Party. Supporters of democrati- not trade. He lives in the preferred
cally accountable government and the world of the anti-globalizers, a world
rule of law should support globalization. without trade, a world in which all pro-
duction is local.
Free Trade Is a Fundamental Human Protectionism should be rejected not
Right. The anti-globalizers and protec- merely because it is inefficient. It should
tionists start with the assumption that also be rejected because it leads to con-
they have the right to use force to stop flict and war, because it is immoral, and
you and me from engaging in voluntary because it is uncivilized.
www.cato.org
C A T O S L E T T E R
V O LU M E 1 N U M B E R 2
Sign me up!
Yes! I would like to continue my free subscription to Catos Letter.
Note: Current Cato Sponsors need not return the form as they automatically receive Catos Letter.
Yes! Please enroll me as a Cato Sponsor at the following tax-deductible level of support:
Introductory ($50) Basic ($100$499) Sustaining ($500$999)
Patron ($1,000$4,999) Benefactor ($5,000$24,999) Cato Club 200 ($25,000 and above)
Name
7
Address
City/State/Zip
Signature
Mail form in the enclosed envelope to Cato Institute, 1000 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001
Would you like to help
the cause of freedom?
Become a Cato Sponsor. Through your financial support, you
will be helping to renew respect for the ideas of a free society.
You will help to limit the role government plays in your life
by helping us to make the case for lower taxes, civil liber-
ties, free trade, and skepticism about the welfare state.
For as little as $50, you can help the Cato Institute advance
the cause of liberty. By joining us as a Cato Sponsor, you
will receive the same cutting-edge policy work we provide to
Washington policymakers. And your support is tax-deductible!
Please detach and send the Cato Sponsor enrollment form today.
In order to maintain its independence, the Cato Institute accepts no government funding. Contributions are received from
foundations, corporations, and individuals, and other revenue is generated from the sale of publications. The institute is a
nonprofit, tax-exempt educational foundation under 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code.
Nonprofit Organization
Cato Institute
U.S. Postage
PAID