The Myth of Free Trade
The Pooring of America
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
As an antidote to our economic ills—the federal deficit, our reliance on foreign imports, widespread downsizing, environmental destruction—Dr. Batra sets out a five-year plan for economic revival that includes raising tariffs on imports, banning mergers among giant firms, and encouraging domestic competition by splitting huge corporations into smaller units.
In a front-page story in the Wall Street Journal, Pat Buchanan named The Myth of Free Trades as one of the cornerstones of his protectionist economic policy. Written by Dr. Ravi Batra, bestselling economist and author of The Great Depression of 1990, The Myth of Free Trade throws down the gauntlet to economic orthodoxy and challenges the gospel of free trade. Dr. Batra states that "laissez-faire has wrecked U.S. industry and shattered the American dream."
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Batra ( The Great Depression of 1990 ) surveys America's economy in this impressive study filled with illuminating statistics. Declaring himself ``privy to knowledge and information crucial to the economic survival of our nation as well as our planet,'' Batra, professor of economics at Southern Methodist University in Texas, here repudiates free trade: ``Manufacturing, not trade, is the main source of prosperity.'' Batra's analysis of federal deficits, deindustrialization and our living standard is piercing. He supports ``competitive protectionism,'' specifically higher tariffs, an industrial policy, banning mergers among giant firms and breaking up ``large firms controlling more than 10 percent of market share in any industry.'' While compelling, Batra does not present a convincing argument that a protectionist America can survive in a world committed to free trade. Fortune Book Club alternate.
