There are many people out there, especially conservatives, who view themselves as supporters of the free-market. However, many of these people also favor protectionism. In other words, they favor tariffs and import quotas placed on imports to benefit the economy. These people suffer from something the famed economist Ludwig von Mises called polylogism or “many logics.” They do not stay consistent with the logic of the free market. They flip-flop between the logic of the free-market and mercantilism (one of the many philosophies of government intervention).
I do not have the space to go into the details of mercantilism or why it is fallacious. But, I would like to pose a challenge to anyone who thinks they can support the free-market and protectionism (the new mercantilism). Naturally, supporters of the free-market believe in freedom. They believe the individual should not be coerced into doing anything by the government. They believe the government should stay out of economic affairs if it should even exist at all. These circumstances will lead to a prosperous society, one that is morally righteous and materially wealthy. (For proof of this I invite you to read more on free-market economics by great authors like Murray Rothbard, Ludwig von Mises, and many others. Or even just read more from this site here or here.)
Protectionists, on the other hand, believe that the government is the creator of wealth. They believe that through government coercion everyone will be better off. They believe that this can be accomplished through a tariff (a sales tax on imported goods). Therefore, they think that government taxation and coercion can create prosperity. This is directly opposed to everything the free-market stands for. It is saying that individual liberty is wrong because the government must change the actions of individuals to bring about prosperity.
At a fundamental level, these two philosophies are opposed to one another. The free-market shows faith in individual liberty and protectionism shows faith in government coercion. So, how can anyone logically support both? I challenge the many people who do support both to answer this question.
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