The mercantilist phenomenon of "globalization" is quite different from free trade. And genuine free trade is not the same thing as what people like Thomas Friedman call "free trade." Free trade does not require the Bretton Woods institutions, the Uruguay Round of GATT, and the U.S. government to enforce them. "Free trade" does.
For an excellent and pungent examination of what the difference is between them, check out this essay by the Austrian economist Joseph Stromberg, affiliated with the Mises institute: http://www.antiwar.com/stromberg/s022800.html Another, less polemical article on the same theme is Christopher Layne and Benjamin Schwarz, "American Hegemony--Without an Enemy," Foreign Policy, Fall 1993). Stromberg does a brilliant job integrating the New Left revisionist analysis of Williams, Kolko and Weinstein into his own primarily Austrian framework. For example, in "Cui Bono? Imperialism and Theory," he includes an excellent literature review of theories of imperialism by Lenin, Kautsky, Bukharin, Hobson and Schumperter, and then putting his own Austrian spin on it. According to Stromberg, overproduction is not inherent in the market itself, but only in state capitalism. The cartelizing policies of the twentieth century regulatory state, along with heavy state subsidies, promote levels of both production and prices that are above market clearing levels. The result is that the statist corporate economy is prone to chronic overproduction punctuated by serious crises, and the state is forced to seek outlets overseas. Check it out--the original is beyond my poor powers of summary: http://www.antiwar.com/stromberg/s100599.html >From: "John Jernigan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Defense of Free Trade >Date: Sun, 14 Jul 2002 06:33:51 -0500 > >What is the best overall, relatively comprehensive (i.e. not just an intro >to the basic principles) book arguing for free trade/globalization? I've >been trying to look around amazon.com, but most of the recent stuff >("Globalization and its Discontents" for instance) seem to be describing >the >faults of globalization. > >Thanks, >John Jernigan _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com
