WTO and Current Trade Debate: An Enquiry into the Intellectual Origins of Free Trade Thought

Examines the intellectual origins of the free trade doctrine, looking at the extent to which the economic analysis of free trade has excluded other forms of analysis. Considers the classical theory of free trade put forward by Alan Smith and analysis. Considers the classical theory of free trade put forward by Adam Smith and David Ricardo and the objections raised to free trade during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, based on arguments relating to tariffs, emerging industries, unemployment, wage differentials and market distortion.