Choice, The: A Fable of Free Trade and Protectionism [Paperback]

Russell D. Roberts (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0130830089 | ISBN-13: 978-0130830081 | Publication Date: December 13, 1993 | Edition: 1

Through the use of allegory and satire, this text provides an exposition of the law of comparative advantage, an economic law applicable to all trading nations. In the fable, the ghost of David Ricardo provides an entertaining look at the array of questions facing America, and indeed the world, in the choice between free trade and protectionism.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

David Ricardo comes to life to discuss international trade theory and policy with Ed Johnson, a fictional American television manufacturer seeking protection from Japanese televisions. Their dialogue is a sophisticated, rigorous discussion of virtually every major issue in trade theory and policy. To illustrate the positive and normative effects of international trade and trade policy, Ricardo takes the reader and Ed Johnson into the future to see an America of free-trade and an America of complete self- sufficiency. The fictional element brings these topics to life so that students gain the intuition and understanding of how trade changes the lives of people and the industries they work in. The fundamental intuition of how international markets function including general equilibrium effects and policy analysis is provided.

From the Inside Flap

Preface

In the early 1990s, when this book was first published, many Americans were deeply fearful of Japan. Analysts, experts, and pundits claimed that the Japanese government and Japanese companies were waging and winning an economic war against the United States. Highlights of the Japanese strategy included subsidies to key technologies and excluding American products from the Japanese market. Some experts urged America to get tough with Japan; others wanted America to fight back by copying Japan's policies.

Much of the first edition of this book was devoted to a different point of view, rejecting the whole concept of economic warfare at the national level and arguing that although Japanese and American companies are in competition, Japanese success does not come at the expense of America. The debate seems quaint today; the Japanese economic malaise and the extraordinary performance of the American economy have pushed the Japanese-American economic relationship out of the headlines and out of the minds of the American people.

In this revised edition, I have de-emphasized the discussion of Japan's economic relationship with the United States. I do this with some trepidation. When the American economy falters and Japan's recovers, we will surely hear again of why Japan is a threat to the United States. So I have left in some of the material about Japan to innoculate the reader against future outbreaks of Japan-bashing.

In addition to de-emphasizing the U.S.-Japan relationship, I have added discussions of topics that have grown in importance since the early 1990s. In particular, I have added a new chapter on trade deficits (chapter 10) and a new chapter on trade with Mexico and low-wage nations (chapter 12).1 have added discussions of environmental issues, labor standards, and the World Trade Organization. I have moved the date of the story from 1995 to 2000 and updated. the data where relevant. I have included discussions of recent developments like the Internet and moved and merged material from the first edition in ways that make more sense to me now.

Russell Roberts ([e-mail])
Center for the Study of American Business
Washington University in St. Louis --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Pearson P T R; 1 edition (December 13, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0130830089
• ISBN-13: 978-0130830081
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #616,866 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Entertaining Defense of Free Trade, May 15, 2000

By 

James Schoonmaker (Centreville, Virginia USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Choice, The: A Fable of Free Trade and Protectionism (Paperback)

This book is, as the title suggests, an allegory with the notion of free trade at its center. It also not-so-subtly introduces the lay reader, for whom this book was written, to the arguments supporting free trade.

It is written in the style of It's A Wonderful Life, in that the main character, resembling the American Everyman in his doubts about the merits of free trade, wishes that things could have been different. He is led on a journey of what might have been. Roberts masterfully mixes in macroeconomic and international economic theory in the process, allowing the reader to make their own decisions on the merits of free trade, rather than simply being cowed by the picture he paints of a protectionist United States.

For those who are familiar with both macroeconomic and international economic theory, this book won't open your eyes. It does, however, provide a framework for explaining the merits of free trade to others. For those unfamiliar with economic theory, however, it is probably the most painless and enjoyable ways to become familiar with the territory.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Persuasive Argument for Free Trade, October 18, 2001

By 

P. Murray (Florida) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Choice: A Fable of Free Trade and Protectionism Updated Edition (Paperback)

Russell Roberts aims to persuade the intelligent layman that the stuff of wealth is goods and services (not money or jobs) and that the way to create wealth is through specialization and trade, which he calls the "roundabout way to wealth." The book is better than a novel. The author creates a dialogue between the late economist David Ricardo and fictional businessman Ed Johnson. It's easy to imagine that Ricardo represents Roberts as professor and Johnson represents every student who ever raised a challenging question in his class. One can learn a lot about international trade from this dialectic approach.
The author uses some numbers and case studies to illustrate what happens when trade is free and when it is not. The "rigor" is there even if the elaborate geometry and mathematics usually found in economics textbooks are not. Like most economists, Roberts makes the case for free trade in terms of efficiency. Ultimately though, his message becomes a moral one and a challenge. "The real choice" declares David Ricardo (Russell Roberts), "is between a dynamic world and a static world---a world of encouraging people to dream and acquire the skills to make those dreams come true and a world of encouraging people to be content with what they have and to dream less." The Choice is about as good in spirit and persuasiveness as Frederic Bastiat's Economic Sophisms.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy this book!, December 14, 1999

By 

Michael Brandl (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Choice, The: A Fable of Free Trade and Protectionism (Paperback)

Roberts does an excellent job a getting across some very complex international trade concepts in a very enjoyable way. I recommend this book to people at all levels economists, like myself; students of economics; businesspeople; working people; journalists; policymakers; everyone!