Quotation of the Day…

(Don Boudreaux)

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… is from page 188 of Open Borders: The Science and Ethics of Immigration, the magnificent 2019 illustrated book written by my GMU Econ colleague Bryan Caplan and illustrated by Zach Weinersmith:

‘Squeezing foreigners’ is a classic protectionist smoke-screen for squeezing your own citizens.

DBx: Yup.

Protectionism is indeed protected by the myth identified here by Caplan and Weinersmith. It’s a myth that is found to be especially appealing by conservative economic nationalists. Protectionism is protected as well by all manner of other myths, including many that are found to be especially appealing by “Progressives,” such as the myth that protectionism protects ordinary people from the predations of greedy corporations.