Customer Reviews

The Case for Free Trade and Open Immigration

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Like most Americans, I thought illegal aliens were destroying the country. For most of us, TV was the source for that opinion.

This book changed my mind.

Its a compliation of articles by a somewhat limited variety of modern-day authors about the history and consequences of tight borders. You don't need an economics or political science degree to enjoy and understand the book immensely.

The book covers arguments against immigration and free trade such as; the drains on Social Security and Welfare by "lazy" immigrants, the "stealing" of jobs within the borders and the export of jobs to foreign countries, the increases in crime supposedly associated with immigration, the consequences of import/export tariffs and quotas, and artifically high wages relative to the world. All are justifiably made in defense of the American way of life, but simply fail to comprehend the nature of free trade and immigration as presented in this book. No credible argument is left unturned. Each is dealt with fairly and persuasively. Where appropriate, numbers are introduced.

The true nature of international trade and its costs/benefits along with an accurate representation of immigration are concisely and beautifully presented. All that is left of the opposition is a pile of emotional isolationism.

The drafters of our so-far successful Constitution agreed with the principles in this book; others would do well to find out why.

A grotesque misquote by Prof. Ebeling, (in the chapter "The Ghost of Protectionism Past: The Return of Friedrich List") is so completely out of context that one wonders what the rest of the book is like. The real context is that List explains the
actual effects of war (which may act like protection) and peace (when this reintroduces free trade). I lost my appetite for a book that uses dishonest methods to prove its point that (moderate and temporary) protection leads to war. I guess the next thing would be to claim that protectionists are really all nazis? Here is the quote in question:

"[A] war which promotes the transition from the purely agricultural to the mixed agricultural-manufacturing state is therefore a blessing for a nation. . . . Whereas a peace, which throws back into a purely agricultural condition a state destined to become industrialized, is a curse incomparably more harmful than a war."