Posted: Sep 23, 2010 10:52 pm
Byron wrote:The problem with the common understanding of free trade is disparity between difference sources of labour. Ie, labour in a country with a minimum wage is more expensive than that in a country with none. The answer isn't, as some libertarians say, to abolished minimum wages and let the market set its own rate, but to set tariffs and other protectionist measures up against countries with an unfair advantage, To allow countries with no worker protection to compete on equal terms is de facto unfree trade.
Free trade eradicates those disparities. That "unfair advantage" a country has in the labour market disappears as their economy develops and catches up to everyone else. In less than half a century, South Korea went from third world to first world and now it's a G20 economy where workers enjoy the kind of legal protections that we do. And all because of free trade. Just compare it to its neighbour to the north, where trade is about as unfree as you can get, and you'll realise opposition to free trade isn't just nonsensical - it's criminal.