Can Protectionism Ever Be Respectable? the Independent Institute Independent Form

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So far in this series, we’ve learned that  generally the more trade there is in a society,   the more prosperous that society  is. Therefore, it’s reasonable   to assume that economists and government  officials would always favor free trade,   or international trade left to its natural course,  without any restrictions whatsoever. However,   this is not the case. In fact, many actually  call for protectionism, or restricting trade   to shield domestic industries from foreign  competition. In this tutorial, we will learn   about the advantages and disadvantages  of both free trade and protectionism.  First of all, how does protectionism restrict  trade? Probably the most common trade barrier   is a tariff, or a tax on imported goods. Simply  put, tariffs make foreign goods more expensive.   Because of this, consumers might be more likely to  buy domestic goods. Another common trade barrier   is an import quota. An import quota places a limit  on the am