Buy American? Fair trade? Free trade?
Some of my friends "buy American" (Group A).
Some buy "fair-trade" coffee (Group B).
Some do both (Group AB).
And then there are those selfish guys who buy free trade (Group 0).
The first three groups pay a higher price for lower quality. How does that make sense? Don't such acts promote waste of scarce resources around the world at considerable cost to the perpetrators themselves? Are such people a living proof that economics is based on faulty assumptions? Not at all!
Choices made by people in the first three groups are all examples of rational human behavior as much as the ones made in the last group. You make additional sacrifices because you attach additional value to a product based on location and/or method of production. As a supporter of economic freedom, I fight for your consumer right to make any choice without coercion---even if I see it as wrong (hurting the poor despite your good intentions) or inefficient. And I also fight for your right to engage in discussion for the purpose of finding out the truth and/or promoting your beliefs. So here are a few questions for you:
Group A: We have heard arguments that free trade promotes the health of our national economy. I assume that your choice is a result of patriotic feelings and/or self-interest (preserving your own job). Shouldn't you also buy only American coffee? We have millions of unemployed people---perhaps we should subsidize them to grow it for us even if it costs $10 per cup? How exactly does your behavior promote your goals? Group B: We have witnessed many distinguished economists' efforts trying to convince us that free trade is a necessary condition for lifting people in the underdeveloped nations out of misery. I assume that your choice is a result of your desire to help the poor farmers in Third World countries. Do you also buy only fair-trade bananas? Clothes? Shoes? Laptops? Do you only fly on planes made by fair-trade parts? Do you think that this is the most efficient (it's about Christ's exhortation to us to be good stewards) way to spend your money to achieve your goals? Group AB: "The rarest of all human qualities is consistency," wrote Jeremy Bentham. How do you reconcile in your mind doing both at the same time? Group 0: How can you sleep at night? Don't your choices promote "exploitation?"
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