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James Bovard
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The Fair Trade Fraud: How Congress Pillages the Consumer and Decimates American Competitiveness Hardcover – September 15, 1991

by James Bovard (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 15 ratings
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The Fair Trade Fraud is a direct attack on US trade policies and on the principle of political control of trade. James Bovard exposed the political and moral core of protectionism, demonstrating that politicians cannot make trade more fair by making it less free.

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  1. Print length
    336 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    St. Martin's Press
  4. Publication date
    September 15, 1991
  5. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.88 x 8.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0312061935
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0312061937
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Unlike other books that discuss America's foreign trade policies, Bovard's work looks critically at these policies and how they directly and adversely affect U.S. consumers. Stating that "fair trade consists largely of the U.S. government devising new ways to protect American consumers against the scourge of low prices," Bovard gives specific examples that illustrate his claim that U.S. consumers are forced to pay higher prices for many goods because of our protectionist foreign trade policy. Writing from the viewpoint of one who has investigated and reported on the inconsistencies and hypocrisies in government practices, he makes his position quite clear--the government decides what consumers may buy by levying stiff tariffs on and restricting imports of many foreign goods. A disturbing work on a timely topic. Recommended for public and college libraries for existing foreign policy collections.
- Lisa K. Miller, American Graduate Sch. of International Management Lib., Glendale, Ariz.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

“A disturbing work on a timely topic.” ―Library Journal

“Bovard offers a smashing condemnation of American trade policy and exposes the corrupt core of protectionism and the absurdity of Congress making trade more 'fair' by making it less 'free'. . . . (shows) how arbitrary and ultimately counterproductive and restrictive our trade practices are.” ―The Wall Street Journal

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ St. Martin's Press; First Edition (September 15, 1991)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0312061935
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0312061937
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.15 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.88 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 15 ratings

About the author

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James Bovard

James Bovard

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James Bovard is the author of Last Rights: The Death of American Liberty (2023) Public Policy Hooligan (2012), Attention Deficit Democracy (2006), and eight other books. He is a member of the USA Today Board of Contributors, a frequent contributor to the New York Post, and has written for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Playboy, and the Washington Post, and is a fellow with the Libertarian Institute. His books have been translated into Spanish, Arabic, Japanese, and Korean.

The Wall Street Journal called Bovard 'the roving inspector general of the modern state,' and Washington Post columnist George Will called him a 'one-man truth squad.' His 1994 book Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty received the Free Press Association's Mencken Award as Book of the Year. His book Terrorism and Tyranny won the Lysander Spooner Award for the Best Book on Liberty in 2003. He received the Thomas Szasz Award for Civil Liberties work, awarded by the Center for Independent Thought, and the Freedom Fund Award from the National Rifle Association.

His writings have been been publicly denounced by the chief of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Postmaster General, and the chiefs of the Transportation Security Administration, U.S. International Trade Commission, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In 2015, the Justice Department sought to suppress his articles in USA Today.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
15 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Fred Shoppin
5.0 out of 5 stars Well written about the anti-consumer scandal known as fair trade
Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2024
Verified Purchase
I actually have some experience in this field as a former trade lawyer, though I soon shifted gears because I could see the whole process smelled of 5 day old fish. Under the guise of fair trade, domestic producers have tariffs placed on foreign products based on a labyrinthine set of crazy, unfair rules. This is a must read for thinking voters.
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Dr. Robert Ingram Powell
5.0 out of 5 stars THE FAIR TRADE FRAUD
Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2005
Verified Purchase
James Bovard is in my view the most objective, incisive investigative journalist on the planet (past or present). Like Freedom In Chains, Lost Rights, Feeling your Pain, Terrorism and Tyranny, The Bush Betrayal, and Shakedown(How the Govt screws you from A to Z), James is a master at identifying the criminal excesses of government operating outside the bounds of the Constitution sub calore juris, sub pretexto juris. James also provides enoough documentation to engender the hatred of the collectivist-socialist members of both houses of Congress and the collectivist-socialist media who would burn him at the stake for exposing them if it were possible for them to do so.

If readers want to view a long list of abuses and usurpations which identify "what the Government is doing to us", who is responsible and why, like Lemming we are all marching over the proverbial cliff followng the leader while ignoring the greatness we once almost achieved under an almost laissez faire Capitalist system, read all of James Bovards books. he is the best!

So say I,

Dr. Robert Ingram Powell, Ph.D.

w6vro@msn.com
3 people found this helpful
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Brock
5.0 out of 5 stars Governments are good at one thing, destruction
Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2018
Verified Purchase
This is a great book it really shows how government makes everything we pay for more expensive all the way down to the tissues we buy. If you really want to learn how government helps a few at the expense of the rest this is the book. Problem is people think government should help them at the expense of others, but the role of government is to make sure groups don't violate others rights not to violate their rights.
One person found this helpful
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J. Davis
4.0 out of 5 stars A powerful criticism of silly trade policies
Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2015
Verified Purchase
Bovard, a free trader and libertarian, makes a strong case against many of America's silly trade policies. A lot of what he says sounds ike something from the Onion, but it's all too real. To take just one example, the government limits the amount of ice cream we can import. Amusing and satirical.
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V-ROD
3.0 out of 5 stars Quick and simple review
Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2010
Verified Purchase
I was interested in the premise of the book, and was anxious to gain more insight into what I already knew was happening. Unfortunately the author lists statistic upon statistic and makes redundant points that the book becomes a dull read. There is no doubt what the author states is true and readers will learn more on the subject. But in my opinion, it is plain dull.
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Timothy
5.0 out of 5 stars Looking back, this guy was on the cutting edge when the wheels were coming off the country.
Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2014
It's impossible to argue, for those who are 'awake' today and see our country in it's current state. Government spying on citizens and controlling them with the largest Prison State IN THE WORLD (U.S. now imprisons more people than any other government in the world and that includes PER-CAPITA & total population, including over countries like China, Russia and Dictatorships). Back in 1991, I was finishing High School and America was still "America", in it's final moments of freedom, having just finished the Cold War victorious. That was the LAST great American generation. Today, two and a half generations later, America is in ruins. HALF of Americans are on "Government Assistance" of some kind. All the "new jobs" are paying "slave-wages" to our young adults who cannot start families and are moving back in with their parents.

"Fair Trade" that began in the late 70's (when our factories moved overseas due to trade agreements and lowered tariffs) then culminated with NAFTA, was one of the MAIN reasons for the economic WASTELAND you see America in today. And the public is so brainwashed by the mass-media and dumbed down by our bad schools that they think America is still "great". Folks, it's not. America is a virtual 2nd World nation now. Most of our wealth has been transferred overseas and our Dollar's value is shrinking through inflation and the U.S. Govt has no spending power yet continues to borrow money it can't pay back (because the Govt surrendered American sovereignty and our businesses to Globalism and as a result, destroyed America's wealth).

James Bovard's book today is a chance for people to look back into the past and see that someone actually did tell the truth and laid out the consequences of the criminal policies our "Elected Masters" drew up in the back room to rob America blind/Sell-out America through a phony swindle called "Free Trade".
One person found this helpful
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family@royal.net
5.0 out of 5 stars Squares with my actual experience in Japan
Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2000
I bought the book because Bovard clearly wasn't one of the two-week Okura Experts. For those not familiar with the local jargon, Okura Experts are Washington, D.C. appointees who run our trade policy based on a two week stay at the Okura, a luxury hotel near the American Embassy in Tokyo.
Like me, Bovard has been in the trenches and seen trade issues in Japan face-to-face. If you are willing to discard your media managed notions about how Japan cheats and is unfair on trade and look at the whole picture, this book is well worth the read.
Bovard is neither an apologist nor a basher, but I'll guarantee that if you read this book, you will never look at trade issues in the same way again.
13 people found this helpful
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John Markley
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2002
Bovard does a great job exposing protectionist idiocy, and his writing style makes a somewhat dry subject interesting.
4 people found this helpful
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