ECONOMIC SOPHISMS.

FIRST SERIES.*

INTRODUCTION.

My goal in this small volume is to disprove some of the arguments used against Free Trade.

I do not intend to start a fight with the protectionists Protectionists are those who support government policies like tariffs or taxes on imports to protect domestic industries from foreign competition.; instead, I want to instill a core principle in the minds of those who hesitate because they have sincere doubts.

I am not one of those who say that protectionism is based purely on selfish interests. I believe instead that it is based on errors, or, if you will, on incomplete truths. Too many people genuinely fear liberty for us to assume that their concerns are not sincere.

It is perhaps aiming too high, but I admit my hope is that this small work will become a manual for those whose job it is to decide between these two principles. When people have not long been familiar with the doctrine of liberty, the sophisms original: "sophisms." A sophism is a clever but false argument that seems convincing but is actually flawed or deceptive. of protectionism, in one form or another, are constantly resurfacing. To clear up these errors when they return, a long process of analysis is necessary; however, not everyone has the time required for such a process—and legislators have less time than anyone else. This is why I am attempting to provide the analysis and its results in a simple, ready-to-use original: "cut and dry." format.

But it may be asked: Are the benefits of liberty so hidden that they can only be discovered by professional economists?

• The first series of Economic Sophisms original: "Sophismes Économiques." appeared at the end of 1845; the second series in 1848.—EDITOR.