"The people who believe that tariffs are good for the nation are literally incapable of deductive economic reasoning. This argument has been used by mercantilists ever since the late 17th century. Adam Smith'sWealth of Nations is a refutation of the mercantilist position. Nevertheless, people who are incapable of following a line of economic argumentation, and who get patriotic when they hear the word 'nation,' rush to promote tariffs. Thus, the combination of an ignorant patriotism and an ignorant economic analysis produces the statement: 'Protectionism is good for the nation.'"
"Unfortunately, so few people understand economic logic, that this subsidy from the majority to the minority is not understood as being a coercive wealth-transfer program for the benefit of the minority. Very few Americans understand this. Very few Chinese understand it. Whenever a nation adopts mercantilism, which is approximately 100% of the time, it does so on the basis that almost no one understands that the policy inflicts damage on the vast majority of citizens, and it benefits only a minority who are in the export sector of the economy."
"It is a shame that most people do not understand economics, but not a shame for favored exporters, who benefit from the theft of purchasing power. You cannot get something for nothing. A minority group of exporters get a lot. The masses get rising prices for almost everything."
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