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Debating Free International Trade

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  • Gerard Strange

Abstract

This article begins with a definition of free international trade and a brief history of the evolution of free trade as an ideology and economic policy. It next considers the case for free trade as first articulated by classical economists Adam Smith and David Ricardo and then examines free trade critiques proffered by Friedrich List and Marxist scholars who claim that free trade can never be just nor fair so long as relational and structural power inequalities exist between corporations and workers. This article concludes with a summary of the current free trade debate, highlighting, in particular, how radical critics of free trade have begun to embrace a more distinctly Marxian view of the dynamics of globalized capital accumulation. This new perspective acknowledges the progressive transformations that globalized trade has brought to developing countries while also highlighting the ways global free trade relies upon and sustains an exploitative class dynamic.

Suggested Citation

  • Gerard Strange, 2020. "Debating Free International Trade," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 79(1), pages 25-47, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ajecsc:v:79:y:2020:i:1:p:25-47
    DOI: 10.1111/ajes.12310
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Prebisch, Raúl, 1950. "The economic development of Latin America and its principal problems," Sede de la CEPAL en Santiago (Estudios e Investigaciones) 29973, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    2. Bhagwati, Jagdish, 2007. "In Defense of Globalization: With a New Afterword," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195330939.
    3. William I. Robinson, 2015. "The transnational state and the BRICS: a global capitalism perspective," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(1), pages 1-21, January.
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