Yesterday, Sierra Rayne noted that Thomas L. (even a broken clock is right twice a day) Friedman "claims that "[w]e got rich as a country through trade."  This is correct. The marketplace creates wealth, and the marketplace consists entirely of trade.  If you buy something, sell something, barter one good for another, do a favor in return for a favor, it is all trade. Rayne shows a graph that appears to illustrate a logical inconsistency: over the last several decades, annual GDP growth has declined while trade as a percentage of GDP has increased. Senior research fellow Patrick McLaughlin of the Mercatus Center produced a short video that admirably explains why this logical inconsistency exists: government regulations have exploded over the same period of time. As the regulatory avalanche has proceeded apace, it has become harder and harder (read: more expensive) to do business in this country.  NAFTA, Mr. (soon to be president) Trump, is not...(Read Full Post)