WHY I’M A FREE-TRADER

In this week’s Newsweek, columnist Fareed Zakaria argues that the biggest thing facing South Asia right now isn’t the tsunami or even the threat of massive disease, horrific as those two things are. Rather, South Asia’s biggest problem is economic development. On an individual and national level, the region simply lacks the resources to thrive. Money isn’t everything, but it sure can help pay for mass immunizations, drinkable water, and physical infrastructure.

And that’s why I’m a free-trader. The people that lose the most when we restrict free trade are those in poor countries, whose goods are not allowed to be bought and sold in the international marketplace because politicians in rich countries are in the pocket of powerful manufacturing and agricultural conglomerates. Much foreign aid is needed now, and may always be needed; but the best way to help a poor country is to let it participate in the global economy.

Instead, politicians protect their power base and earn patriotism points by protecting domestic goods from non-US competition. At this very minute, when the world is as rich as it has ever been, there are more people on this earth who earn less than $2 a day than there are those who earn more than $2 a day. That most of the extremely poor on our planet are concentrated in areas vulnerable to drought, famine, and tsunami makes things even trickier. We may not be able to predict or stop the next natural disaster, but we sure can lobby for trade policies that allow poorer countries to earn their fair share of the world’s economic growth.