Free Trade and Factor Mobility
The citizens of the US are not made richer by raising taxes or other barriers to foreign consumption goods, writes Robert Murphy, and this is true whether factors of production are immobile (as Ricardo assumed) or mobile. We should not fear the cost-cutting advancements in data transmission, or the improved skills and education of foreign workers. On the contrary, we should welcome these developments because they mean lower prices for imported goods and services, and hence a higher standard of living for Americans.