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Protectionism Vs Free Trade (Historically)

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  • #16
    Countries like Switzerland with a much higher GDP per capita than either US or Japan (and much more evenly distributed), actually only second in the world to Luxembourg, indeed have traditionally had trade surpluses but also very large domestic savings.

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    • #17
      Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
      Oh yeah, if anyone knows examples of countries that managed to industrialize under a free trade regime, I would also appreciate that.


      Well England for one. Though there is some debate whether it was truely free trade... it was more free trade than anywhere else at the least .
      England didn't start lowering trade barriers until the 1840s, and only on manufactured goods. Smart move since they had a comparative advantage in manufactured goods and access to cheap raw materials. They kept their tariffs on goods that they didn't have a comparative advantage in, like wine, however.
      I drank beer. I like beer. I still like beer. ... Do you like beer Senator?
      - Justice Brett Kavanaugh

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      • #18
        Originally posted by paiktis22
        Countries like Switzerland with a much higher GDP per capita than either US or Japan (and much more evenly distributed), actually only second in the world to Luxembourg, indeed have traditionally had trade surpluses but also very large domestic savings.
        Domestic savings and trade surpluses go hand in hand.
        I drank beer. I like beer. I still like beer. ... Do you like beer Senator?
        - Justice Brett Kavanaugh

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        • #19
          Originally posted by Kidicious

          England didn't start lowering trade barriers until the 1840s, and only on manufactured goods.
          That be the repeal of the corn laws in 1846 - which were against foreign agricultural produce, not manufactured goods.


          International trade/globalization seems to take off only when there is one dominant leader in the world economy, presumably this is because it can impose one set of rules on the game.
          This is the main reason why I think that the current tide of increasing trade/globalization is at it's high point (as the US cannot dominate the EU anymore)
          19th Century Liberal, 21st Century European

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          • #20
            Originally posted by Kidicious
            Domestic savings and trade surpluses go hand in hand.
            Sorry wasn't clear on what you meant by "earning foreign exchanges". You obviously meant foreign capital. (blame it in the language barrier or me )

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            • #21
              Originally posted by el freako


              That be the repeal of the corn laws in 1846 - which were against foreign agricultural produce, not manufactured goods.
              Right. They had already lowered tariffs on manufactured goods. But they still had tariffs on wine, right?
              I drank beer. I like beer. I still like beer. ... Do you like beer Senator?
              - Justice Brett Kavanaugh

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              • #22
                Originally posted by paiktis22
                Sorry wasn't clear on what you meant by "earning foreign exchanges". You obviously meant foreign capital. (blame it in the language barrier or me )
                No problem. Your language barrier isn't so bad anymore.

                A trade surplus naturally results in domestic savings. The exporters recieve foreign currency and they trade that for their own currency and the nation earns foreign exchange.
                I drank beer. I like beer. I still like beer. ... Do you like beer Senator?
                - Justice Brett Kavanaugh

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                • #23
                  Well England for one. Though there is some debate whether it was truely free trade... it was more free trade than anywhere else at the least .
                  Actually, I just read this pretty interesting article that France had a much lower tariff rate than England for most of the 19th century, and England caught up only towards the end, contrary to orthodox thought.

                  That be the repeal of the corn laws in 1846 - which were against foreign agricultural produce, not manufactured goods.
                  But tariffs against manufactured goods tended to also drop in this period, and quite substantially in the decades following the repeal of the corn laws.
                  "Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before. He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way. "
                  -Bokonon

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                  • #24
                    Kidicious,
                    However that isn't absolut I think. The foreign capital/exchange can be used to invest rather than keep it in a savings account as many Swiss do. Which is what I mean by domestic savings, large amounts of money which don't leave the country and are not invested. The Swiss economy is really interesting in regards to having almost no growth, no wish for reformation and yet be so succesful. Of course that might have something to do with the banking secrecy laws A constant thorn on EU - Swiss relations.

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                    • #25
                      Here's the graph Ramo.
                      Attached Files
                      I drank beer. I like beer. I still like beer. ... Do you like beer Senator?
                      - Justice Brett Kavanaugh

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                      • #26
                        Thanks.
                        "Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before. He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way. "
                        -Bokonon

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                        • #27
                          Originally posted by paiktis22
                          Kidicious,
                          However that isn't absolut I think. The foreign capital/exchange can be used to invest rather than keep it in a savings account as many Swiss do. Which is what I mean by domestic savings, large amounts of money which don't leave the country and are not invested. The Swiss economy is really interesting in regards to having almost no growth, no wish for reformation and yet be so succesful. Of course that might have something to do with the banking secrecy laws A constant thorn on EU - Swiss relations.
                          The savings from exports is traded, saved, and borrowed, but is eventually invested in the nation that imported the goods.
                          I drank beer. I like beer. I still like beer. ... Do you like beer Senator?
                          - Justice Brett Kavanaugh

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                          • #28
                            Here's the article.

                            The Myth of Free-Trade Britain
                            I drank beer. I like beer. I still like beer. ... Do you like beer Senator?
                            - Justice Brett Kavanaugh

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                            • #29
                              England did not industrialize under free trade. They industrialized under NO trade via Mercantilism. (I do think trade is good, but not "free" trade). Of course England also started the only long term colonization effort in the new world so they had in effect another country to "trade" manufactured goods and resources with.

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                              • #30
                                Originally posted by paiktis22
                                I think a sound approach, after the creation of modern nationalism, is to consider each economy as "national" meaning looking out for its own benefit. That way concepts such as free trade or protectionism are easily interchanged according to each particular situation to ensure the benefit of the "national economy". So a nation can have free trade where it knows it suits it (it can overtake the competition or at least have a shot) or protectionist at other times when it knows it cannot compete (the recent steel tarrifs are a good example).
                                I agree

                                at times protectinoism is best, at times free trade is

                                the always free trade groups are right, wealth almost always increases (like entropy)

                                but just as with entropy just because total wealth is increasing, does not mean that the wealth of a particular country is increasing

                                and I think that there is no reason for one country to pauper itself for another country

                                the whole point of a nation is to look after it's own citizens interests, not the interests of the citizens of other countries

                                Jon Miller
                                Jon Miller-
                                I AM.CANADIAN
                                GENERATION 35: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.

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