Author Archives: F. E. Guerra-Pujol

We spent most of the month of February surveying Adam Smith’s analysis of tariffs in Book IV, Chapter 2 of The Wealth of Nations. This month, I want to explore the work of another great Scottish Enlightenment figure: David Hume … Continue reading →

Should the United States create an “External Revenue Service” as President Trump has recently proposed? As it happens, Adam Smith concludes Book IV, Chapter 2 of The Wealth of Nations (Para. 45) by asking whether “it may be proper to … Continue reading →

One of the greatest ironies of Book IV, Chapter 2 of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations is this: on the one hand, it contains some of the strongest arguments ever made in favor of free trade, and yet, at the … Continue reading →

Is “freedom of trade”, whether at home or among nations, an attainable ideal? Adam Smith explains in just a few words why, alas, it is not! For reference, his explanation appears in the antepenultimate paragraph of Book IV, Chapter 2 … Continue reading →

“… though a great number of people should, by thus restoring the freedom of trade, be thrown all at once out of their ordinary employment and common method of subsistence, it would by no means follow that they would thereby … Continue reading →

We revisited Adam Smith’s fourth and final exception to free trade in my previous post. In summary, the father of economics makes a limited exception for trade barriers that are already on the books. Specifically, if the removal of such … Continue reading →

Last week, we surveyed Adam Smith’s first few exceptions to free trade, namely (i) his unconditional defense of tariffs designed to promote national security, (ii) his case for what I like to call “targeted tariffs”, i.e. duties on specific imports … Continue reading →

I am interrupting my Adam Smith series to confess that this song by Bad Bunny really resonates with me: I lived in Puerto Rico for many years (1993 to 2010), made many friends and lifelong memories along the way, and … Continue reading →

As I mentioned in a previous post, President Trump recently signed an official memorandum calling for “fair and reciprocal” trade tariffs on all major U.S. trading partners. Putting aside the constitutional question of whether the Congress can delegate this power … Continue reading →