Have You Made Your Peace With Free Trade?
Commentary
In 1796, the first U.S. President George Washington gave an impassioned farewell address. It summed up what he hoped would be U.S. foreign policy as regards both economics and wars. “The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations,” he said, “is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible.”
Thomas Jefferson agreed. He favored peace and free trade, not protectionism and war. So did most of the Founding generation. They learned from Adam Smith the core lesson of economics: expanding the division of labor is a major driver of wealth creation. It doesn’t matter if this happens domestically or internationally: the benefits are the same….