{"product_id":"against-the-tide-an-intellectual-history-of-free-trade-9780691058962","title":"Against the Tide: An Intellectual History of Free Trade","description":"\u003cp\u003eAbout two hundred years ago, largely as a result of Adam Smith's \u003ci\u003eWealth of Nations\u003c\/i\u003e, free trade achieved an intellectual status unrivaled by any other doctrine in the field of economics. What accounts for the success of free trade against then prevailing mercantilist doctrines? And how well has free trade withstood various theoretical attacks that have challenged it since Adam Smith's time? In this readable intellectual history, Douglas Irwin explains how the idea of free trade has endured against the tide of the abundant criticisms that have been leveled against it from the ancient world and Adam Smith's day to the present. An accessible, nontechnical look at one of the most important concepts in the field of economics, \u003ci\u003eAgainst the Tide\u003c\/i\u003e will allow the reader to put the ever new guises of protectionist thinking into the context of the past and discover why the idea of free trade has so successfully prevailed over time. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Irwin traces the origins of the free trade doctrine from premercantilist times up to Adam Smith and the classical economists. In lucid and careful terms he shows how Smith's compelling arguments in favor of free trade overthrew mercantilist views that domestic industries should be protected from import competition. Once a presumption about the economic benefits of free trade was established, various objections to free trade arose in the form of major arguments for protectionism, such as those relating to the terms of trade, infant industries, increasing returns, wage distortions, income distribution, unemployment, and strategic trade policy. Discussing the contentious historical controversies surrounding each of these arguments, Irwin reveals the serious analytical and practical weaknesses of each, and in the process shows why free trade remains among the most durable and robust propositions that economics has to offer for the conduct of economic policy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Douglas a. Irwin\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Princeton University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/11\/1998\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 280\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.90lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.18h x 6.15w x 0.69d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780691058962\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDouglas A. Irwin\u003c\/b\u003e is Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College. He is the editor of\u003ci\u003e Jacob Viner: Essays on the Intellectual History of Economics\u003c\/i\u003e (Princeton).\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Princeton University Press","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44945275060339,"sku":"9780691058962","price":84.25,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/9255\/0515\/files\/img_1d624d11-9c87-46a3-a63d-96ca7812200b.jpg?v=1778343220","url":"https:\/\/bookstorenmore.com\/products\/against-the-tide-an-intellectual-history-of-free-trade-9780691058962","provider":"Bookstore N More","version":"1.0","type":"link"}