Trade policy

January 12, 2017

How free trade fosters a creative, collaborative world

In their defenses of free trade, advocates routinely focus only on the long-term, economic benefits, and understandably so. The overall expansion of trade in recent years has led to greater economic growth, innovation, and prosperity for all, including America. Continue Reading...

December 12, 2016

Samuel Gregg: Trade agreements are not free trade

Free trade and trade agreements are not the same thing. In fact, they are often times in direct contradiction with each other. Acton Director of Research Samuel Gregg recently wrote an article about this at The Stream. Continue Reading...

October 25, 2016

Trump and Clinton are wrong: free trade helps the poor

Imagine if Donald Trump made a campaign promise that he would lower the pay of every American, but would ensure that the poorest 10 percent have their pay lowered the most. Continue Reading...

September 01, 2016

Both parties promoting protectionist, crony trade policies

While the Democratic and Republican parties disagree on just about every other issue, there is one area where they seem to have common ground. That is the issue of trade and, unfortunately, neither of the two major political party’s platform takes a liberal position on the issue. Continue Reading...

August 29, 2016

What Christians can learn from Adam Smith’s ‘paradox of value’

In a new video from TED Ed, Akshita Agarwal provides a quick lesson on Adam Smith’s “paradox of value” and the differences between “value in use” and “value in exchange.” For Christians, there’s a crucial lesson here about the best way to meet human needs in the economic order, whether through trade policy, reducing price controls, or any number of other areas. Continue Reading...

July 14, 2014

Will Free Markets Bring Religious Freedom to China?

Japan and Australia recently signed and passed a trade agreement that abolishes or reduces some tariffs on their highest grossing trade items: beef and dairy from Australia and electronics from Japan. Continue Reading...

November 07, 2013

Trade as a Solution for Bickering Toddlers

If you’ve raised multiple children, you’ve dealt with sibling bickering, particularly if said children are close in age. With a three-year-old boy and a two-year-old girl, both just 13 months apart, our family has suddenly reached a stage where sibling play can be either wholly endearing or down-right frightening. Continue Reading...