POLI 243 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Classical Liberalism
4 Sep 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Caada's Natioal Poliy
Protection as a Development Strategy
[Trade lieralizatio i the 1th Cetury ]
• Classical liberalism spreads in the mid-1800s
o Free trade spreads throughout the world (UK, Russia)
• Elgin Treaty (US and Canada) 1854: opens up trade between the two
sides of the border
o US already had low tariffs
o American Civil War, however introduces tariff
▪ Confederate succession – produce cotton to send to UK
▪ North preferences: Wheat farmers to sell products to UK
and industrialists (desire protections)
▪ Different distribution of interests inside the US
▪ Pressure on the federal govt to raise taxes (difficult for
states to collect taxes because there was not a system of
data collection to determine who pays what)
▪ Tariffs are the most effective way to collect taxes
• Compounded by the First Great Depression (1870s)
o Challenge of classical liberalism and free trade
o Free trade led to greater infrastructural development
▪ Commodities are being shipped much easier around the
world (steel, agriculture)
o Flood of goods on markets (higher quantity, lower prices) leads
to economic depression
▪ Protectionist reaction
• Canadian (while UK approves of free trade) overtures, request to
remove/lower tariffs and keep free trade, rejected by US
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Land intensive vs capital intensive farming?: more parsimonious --> more accurate picture, capital intensive farmers will prefer protectinsim. [the ele(cid:272)tio(cid:374) of 1(cid:1012)(cid:1011)(cid:1012): sir john a. macdonald (conservative), liberals vs. tories (conservative, but followed uk): both agreed free trade was beneficial, competitive, liberal govt had failed to get treaty with us --> macdonald offers protectionism. [selli(cid:374)g the natio(cid:374)al poli(cid:272)y: economic development of a country and how that results in policy, specialization, gather broader support, protective tariffs (aimed at manufacturers) Infrastructural development (canadian -pacific railway connects regions for trade: link to prairies and future settlement in western provinces, manufacturers will have a market in agricultural areas, agricultural products sold to urban areas (specialization) [sele(cid:272)tio(cid:374) a(cid:374)d i(cid:373)ple(cid:373)e(cid:374)tatio(cid:374) of (cid:374)atio(cid:374)al poli(cid:272)y: system-level: us constrains choices, domestic-level: trade cleavages visible in elections, bureaucratic politics: tariffs as revenue are popular, free trade = less revenue. Individual level: macdonald"s personality competitive, willingness to try different things.
