Opinion
 

Free trade essential to prosperity

by Monica Granger

Writer's block is more than a personal issue these days. Indeed, it involves entire nations. Thanks to several "advisory letters" issued by the U.S. Treasury Department, publishers can no longer edit written works from a "disfavored" or trade-embargoed nation, such as Iran or Cuba. However, publishers can apply for a license to edit and print, or choose to publish unedited works.

This move pinpoints the despotism of current federal government policies, and the position toward which U.S. government has been moving at an alarming rate. But the main issue here is free trade.

Is free trade beneficial? Pioneering economists like Frederic Bastiat and Ludwig von Mises say yes. Although restructuring (lost jobs, for example) may occur as resources are shifted to their most remunerative uses, the gains made will far outweigh the losses. Consider why jobs are lost to begin with: Employees or capital derived elsewhere can produce a good at a cheaper rate.

We can infer from this statement that the employees or capital released from service are paid a higher wage or rate of return, respectively, because they would be more productively employed elsewhere. The higher wage is the cost necessary to draw these resources away from their otherwise intended use. Free trade ensures that every resource yields as much benefit as possible -- not just to those immediately concerned, but to the whole world.

Ideas as well as goods are traded. Most embargoes typically sanction trade of items and services rather than the exchange of ideas and their corollary value systems. The typical justification by bureaucrats for these sanctions is alleged human rights violations or other political matters that sit ill upon their delicate consciences. But is this a justification?

Although the morality of this stance is not clear, citizens themselves may decide not to trade with nations that violate basic human rights. Government sanctions are not necessarily the proper response to these concerns. Furthermore, no government should be able to deny its citizens beneficial and life-enhancing free trade, especially if it is the citizens' will to trade.

This latest move violates free speech and trade and oversteps the Treasury Department's scope of authority. It is also harmful to the quality of life for individuals in the United States and embargoed nations. The move makes it clear that neither of the two major parties have the integrity to stand for better life through free trade. Now is the time to elect politicians who do more than take what few freedoms Americans have left.

Granger, a political science junior, 
can be reached via dccampus@mail.uh.edu.