Said it better than I said it myself

Commuting to my new job takes a very long time, so I didn't notice Jack Kemp's latest article until tonight. He made a just fantastic defense of free trade, specifically CAFTA.

I posted my criticism of protectionist economics a few days ago, and reading it again, it sounds so clumsy compared to Kemp's piece.

Especially good was his flat, true declaration:

Given the political controversy, you might assume that there is an underlying dispute among economists on the issue of free trade. There isn't. The theory has been settled for centuries, since David Ricardo's famous theory of comparative advantage demonstrated that trade allows each country to concentrate on doing what it does well, thus increasing wealth for both countries involved.

No economist worth a damn will argue against free trade. Even Krugman doesn't.