Online ISSN 2286-0266
Print ISSN 1223-0685
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Matei Alexandru APĂVĂLOAEI
Academia de Studii Economice din Bucureşti
Economics is no stranger to controversy, whether we think of methodology, pure theory, or their implementation in explaining historical events. Although economists disagree on a wide variety of topics, when it comes to international trade, the general opinion among the members of this profession seems to converge toward the virtues of a free flow of goods and services between countries. Taking this into consideration, various attempts have been undertaken in order to explain the structure of international trade: what trade policies are implemented; which are the countries or systems that promote them. This paper is going to tackle this subject by analyzing the specific implications different forms of government have on trade policies, starting from Hoppe’s distinction between monarchy and democracy. The implications of a privately or publically owned government upon trade policy are going to be praxeologically deduced and used in order to provide an alternative historical interpretation of protectionism and free trade throughout Western history, starting from the Middle Ages right up to the creation of the WTO/GATT. As the theory predicts, monarchy is prone to free trade, while democracy and the extension of the franchise favors protectionism. The paper will try to reconcile this theoretical insight with possible objections that may be raised – abuse in feudalism, mercantilism, generalization of free trade under the aegis of parliamentarian Great Britain, the spread of protectionism at the end of the XIXth century, and the creation of the WTO/GATT.

ŒCONOMICA no. 2/2011
Keywords: trade policy, protectionism, monarchy, democracy, democratization, economic history, Austrian Economics
JEL: B53, B41, F13, F59, N40
Comerţul internaţional: de la monarhie la democraţie. O reconstrucţie sociologică