The Jones Act: 100 Years of Failed Protectionism

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June 5 marks the one hundredth anniversary of the Jones Act, a law passed to protect the domestic water transportation industry from outside competition. This law has been touted as critical to the success of the industry, but in reality the Jones Act has done little to support it. Instead, the law has presided over its steady decline.

Jonathan Helton is a research associate at the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii and a student at Freed-Hardeman Universi