Doug Irwin on US Trade Policy

Conversations with Tyler

Society & Culture, Education

4.8 • 2.4K Ratings

🗓️ 29 November 2017

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Tyler thinks Douglas Irwin has just released the best history of American trade policy ever written. So for this conversation Tyler went easy on Doug, asking softball questions like: Have tariffs ever driven growth? What trade exceptions should there be for national security, or cultural reasons? In an era of low tariffs, what margins matter most for trade liberalization? Do investor arbitration panels override national sovereignty? And, what’s the connection between free trade and world peace?

They also discuss the revolution as America’s Brexit, why NAFTA is an ‘effing great’ trade agreement, Jagdish Bhagwati’s key influence on Doug, the protectionist bent of the Boston Tea Party, the future of the WTO, Trump, China, the Chicago School, and what’s rotten in the state of New Hampshire.

Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links.

Recorded October 5th, 2017

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Conversations with Tyler is produced by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University,
0:08.4	bridging the gap between academic ideas and real-world problems.
0:12.6	Learn more at mercatis.org.
0:15.2	And for more conversations, including videos, transcripts, and upcoming dates, visit
0:20.4	ConversationsWithT Tyler.com.
0:26.8	I'm here today with Douglas A. Irwin of Dartmouth University.
0:30.9	Doug has just published a book, Clashing Over Commerce, a history of US trade policy.
0:36.2	That is in fact the greatest book on trade policy ever written, and Doug is one of my favorite
0:41.2	economists.
0:42.5	So today, Doug, we're going to start in on trade.
0:45.1	And what I'm going to do is toss out a bunch of arguments used against free trade.
0:49.4	And you either give me what you think is the best rebuttal, or if you want to accept
0:52.5	the argument.
0:53.5	That's fine.
0:54.5	Ready for that?
0:55.5	Sure.
0:56.5	Okay.
0:57.5	The claim that 19th century American growth was driven by high tariffs.
1:02.0	What's your take?
1:03.0	Well, not really true.
1:04.8	If you look at why the US economy performed very well, particularly relative to Britain
1:09.1	or Germany or other countries, Steve Broadbray has shown that a lot of the overtaking of
	...

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