Adam Smith and Reciprocal Tariffs

This month marks the 250th anniversary of Adam Smith’s magnum opus, The Wealth of Nations. The Liberty Fund print edition is 950 pages (excluding material added by the editors) and just about every page is chalk full of wisdom. While there are some flaws, we rightfully celebrate this book as the monumental leap forward to human understanding that it is.

As a trade economist, I tend to focus on Book IV, Of Systems of Political Œconomy, where Smith skillfully dissects and refutes the arguments for mercantilism and protectionism.