Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Peter C Earle
“In 2020, government officials around the world locked down economies in the name of public health. Small businesses were shuttered, livelihoods wrecked, and personal freedoms suspended based on the belief that central planners knew better than individuals how to respond to risk. A small handful of libertarians rightly pushed back, warning not only of the specious basis for clamping down on commercial and social activity, but also that concentrated power and coercion would do more harm than good. Yet today, some of those same people are cheering for a different kind of lockdown: protectionist trade policies. The justifications may differ, but the structure remains the same — top-down economic intervention, paternalistic rhetoric, and a deep distrust of free people making voluntary decisions in open markets.” (06/03/25)
https://fee.org/articles/trade-protectionists-are-the-new-lockdowners/