Free Trade under Fire [Paperback]

Douglas A. Irwin (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0691116342 | ISBN-13: 978-0691116341 | Publication Date: October 6, 2003

The 1990s began with fears of a "great sucking sound" of jobs lost due to the North American Free Trade Agreement and ended with opponents of the World Trade Organization taking to the streets in the "Battle of Seattle". Why has global trade become so controversial? Does free trade deserve its bad reputation? In this book, Douglas Irwin sweeps aside the misconceptions that litter the debate over trade and aims to give the reader a clear understanding of the issues involved. Putting the findings of an extensive body of economic research at the disposal of the general public, Irwin examines the positions of the proponents and critics of free trade - and makes plain the stakes involved in their disagreement, particularly for the United States. He explains the economic benefits of trade, not just for corporations but for people and the environment. He illustrates how protectionist policies damage the economy and fail to save jobs. Examining US trade policy, he shows how "fair trade" measures are arbitrary, unfair, and often harmful. He then attempts to demystify the World Trade Organization and set the record straight about its controversial rulings on trade and the environment. Irwin does not hold up free trade as a panacea but demonstrates why it is our best alternative.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Extremely clear statement...in favor of free trade as well as a critique of the flaws in the current system. -- Choice

In a clear and engaging style, [Irwin] successfully parries virtually all the arguments leveled against free trade by its critics. -- Barron's

In a clear and engaging style, this Dartmouth economist successfully parries virtually all the arguments leveled against free trade by its critics. -- Review

From the Inside Flap

This is a great book that reviews the case for free trade from an American point of view. Passionate in its arguments, it marshals a large body of evidence--including much that is very recent--into a manageable shape while contributing to the wider debate over free trade. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (October 6, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691116342
• ISBN-13: 978-0691116341
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,484,689 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The case for free trade, October 8, 2003

By 

"luiedu" (Berkeley, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Free Trade Under Fire (Hardcover)

Irwin's book, together with Bhagwati's Free Trade today,
makes a strong case for free trade. The argument is clear and
the book is easy to read and full of evidence supporting
free trade. Among other topics, the author discusses
the harmful effects of protection on developing/
developed economies, trade and the environment
and the role of WTO. Irwin's book is non-technical
and more historical than Bhagwati's. The latter
is more theoretical, at least in some parts, but also
a great read. For arguments against free trade using
economic theory see "trade warriors" by Marc Busch or " global Trade and Conflicting National Interests"
by Ralph E. Gomory, William J. Baumol

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Economists Defense of Free Trade, July 10, 2006

By 

Brian Lee Mulholland (Ellicott City, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Free Trade Under Fire: Second Edition (Paperback)

This book makes a reasonably decent defense of free trade. It speaks in predominantly layman's terms, and is entertaining enough to hold the layman's attention. Irwin does a good job refuting the most patently ridiculous claims that free trade victimizes those it employs and other silly claims.

It doesn't do the best job demonstrating that trade with developing countries benefits wealthy nations, however. It does try to do so, and offers some evidence, but I wish the book had made a stronger effort in this area as this is where most protectionists simply cite the trade deficit as manifest evidence that we are worse off in free trade, without understanding that our standard of living rises when we have cheap goods, and the market for our high skill jobs and products increases as developing countries grow wealthier.

The book does bring up a good point of accounting balance, noting that foreign investment in the U.S. offsets the trade deficit, but I fear that most protectionists are sufficiently xenophobic that this argument is likely to scare them rather than reassure them.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An incisive critique of protectionism, but several deficiencies detract from the overall quality of the book, October 29, 2009

By 

Jordan "Jordan Heim" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Free Trade Under Fire: Third Edition (Paperback)

It pains me to give this book such a mediocre rating. If one sticks to its central message, it is clearly a five star book. Unfortunately, Irwin overreaches with his argument and attempts to paint the entire world with one broad stroke. In his eagerness to create a comprehensive model of the world, he overlooks many of its shortcomings.

Let me start with the strengths of the book. Irwin's analysis of trade in the United States is superb. In it he reveals many common misconceptions of domestic trade policy. He does a brilliant job dissecting contentious issues in the developed world and exposing the special interests at their core. Irwin does an excellent job pointing out that opposition to trade on environmental or labor grounds is misguided and counter-productive. Furthermore, his analysis of import relief in the form of tariffs, anti-dumping, and other methods, is thorough and well-researched.

My primary objection to Prof. Irwin's book is that he continually equates world trade with free trade. Since no country practices free trade to this day, it is surprising that this distinction is not made. The failure is a flaw that plagues his entire book. Irwin completely disregards the history of protectionist policies in the US. He claims that protectionism `materialized overnight' in the 30's when in reality, the Smoot-Hawley tariff increased import tariffs to 48% from 37%. A dramatic increase, no doubt, but to say that protectionism materialized out of nowhere is in complete disregard of the facts. Protectionism was a fundamental part of American economic history; a dramatic example is the fact that many historians attribute the dispute between the North and South over import tariffs as a larger cause of the Civil War than slavery. Protectionism was also a vital part of Northern manufacturing history. One could certainly make the argument that American would have been better off without protectionism, but Irwin does not do this. Instead, he simply ignores this inconvenient fact. Another point in same vein is that Irwin attempts to correlate the growth of the U.S. economy with falling trade barriers. While this is not a comprehensive book on US economic history, the failure to address US history of protectionism is a fault of this book, and reduces its persuasiveness.

At this point it is shocking to me that the rigorous academic work of the first several chapters descends so quickly. This book becomes a two-star book once Irwin begins to delve into the developing world. In his eagerness to prove the universality of free-trade theories, Irwin's begins stretch empirics to prove his point. Let me explain.

To support his theory that free trade is helpful to development, though he is careful to point out that it is only one part of a comprehensive strategy, Irwin relies on China and India. He argues that since these countries opened up to the world, they have become rich. He hopes that by arguing that autarky is bad, that it follows that the other extreme--free trade--is the answer. While he acknowledges continued capital intervention and currency manipulation in China, he seems to forget about these when they can't be used to prove his point. The reality is that China and India are not examples of countries that shifted from high levels of protectionism to free trade; they are examples of countries that shifted from import substitution protectionism to the form of protectionism that helped East Asia get rich--export-led protectionism. I am NOT necessarily saying that protectionism is beneficial to development, but Irwin certainly dismisses this possibility without offering any serious evidence.

Additionally, Irwin sidelines other cases--like Russia--which pursued even more rigorous opening and privatization yet ended in disaster. He dismisses the export protection model of East Asia as inconsistent. Their real strength, he argues, as macroeconomic stability and strong domestic investment. He is simply unwilling to concede that the free trade doctrine may be qualified by the presence of an extremely undeveloped economy. While all of his explanations are coherent, one finds that the exceptions begin to outnumber the success stories. This should raise some red flags to the reader.

All in all, Irwin does a superb job showing how trade is a crucial part of any economy. Furthermore he provides ample evidence that free trade is an essential strategy for maximizing welfare in modern societies. He fails, however, is to demonstrate that undeveloped economies can benefit from free trade in the same way. There is in fact ample evidence (see: Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism) to the contrary. Whether or not Ha-Joon Chang is right, Irwin's limited analysis of developing countries fails to address any of these major criticisms. While my review has tended towards the critical, I want to emphasize that if one sticks to the core issues in this book, and skips over the development section, then this is a very well written book.