Restrictions on Outsourcing?
Any possible argument that can be made to justify restrictions on outsourcing can be seen to apply even more strongly to cases in which any technological or other advance reduces or eliminates the requirements for a particular kind of labor. If the manufacture of widgets requires the employment of labor specialties A, B and C, then the outsourcing of labor specialty C for cost reasons may be just an intermediate step on the way to entirely eliminating the requirement for C at all.
Individuals, Nations, Whatever
Because the law of comparative advantage holds for any trade between two individuals, wherever they may be located geographically or politically, it is ultimately based on the fact that no two individuals are exactly alike. To move the argument to the level of the firm or region or country only complicates the analysis, it doesn’t change the principle itself. Most international trade theorists seem to recognize this and don’t confuse the issue by discussing the magnitude of mobility of resources as a qualifying factor.
How does the moon benefit me?
Americans prefer more personally relevant forms of government intervention, poll shows
Free Trade and Factor Mobility
In a recent New York Times op-ed piece, “Second Thoughts on Free Trade,” Senator Charles Schumer and economist Paul Craig Roberts argue that the typical arguments for free trade, while perhaps valid in the days of Ricardo, are no longer relevant in today’s economy of multinational corporations and high-speed telecommunications. According to our authors:
Who Gets Vouchers and Who Does Not
This question has pitted the Catholic Church against the state of Florida, says this editorial urging more regulation.
Where is Mises?
Ludwig the Lionheart and Murray the Magnificent...Coming Soon in the Boston Globe? Virginia Postrel writes on F.A. Hayek in today’s Boston Globe: Friedrich the Great. Great, a few communists are catching on, and others are picking and choosing from Hayek’s oeuvre. But, why no mention of Hayek’s teacher? Ludwig von Mises: originator of the ideas that won Hayek a nobel prize.
Clarifications on the Case for Free Trade
The case for free trade is based on David Ricardo’s principle of comparative advantage. Ricardo addressed the question how trade could take place between country A and country B (England and Portugal in his example) if country B was more efficient in the production of tradable goods (cloth and wine in his example) than A.
Adobe Says: Don’t Privatize Currency Copying
Roberts Responds to Reisman, Salerno
Paul Craig Roberts replies to two articles on Mises.org, with his piece “Clarifications on the Case for Free Trade.”
