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Spring 2012

ISSN 0890-913X

Volume 27, Number 2

Categories: Education | Spring 2012

A Pedagogical Note on Bastiat’s Restraint of Trade

Cecil E. Bohanon, Ball State University

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TheJournalofPrivateEnterprise27(2),2012,144–150APedagogicalNoteonBastiat’sRestraintofTradeCecilE.Bohanon*BallStateUniversityAbstractFredricBastiatwasagreatexpositoroffreetrade.Thisnoteuseshisessayon“RestraintofTrade”todistinguishbetweenmarginalandinfra-marginalunitsofdomesticproductionthatareforthcomingwhenanembargoisimposedonanimportedproduct.ThisnotonlyclarifiesBastiat’sanalysisbutalsoprovidesaspringboardforteachingthemarginalinfra-marginaldistinction.JELCodes:A20,B12,F11Keywords:FredricBastiat;Marginalanalysis;Tradetheory;EconomiceducationFredricBastiat’swritingsarewell-regardedworksofclassicaleconomicexposition.Bastiatmadepowerful,succinct,andconvincingargumentsforfreemarkets.Yet,tothebestofanyone’sknowledge,heneverdrewadiagram,scribedamathematicalequation,orcollectedadataset.Moreover,hispopularappealhasbeenpersistent.In1909Bastiat’sFallaciesofProtectionwasrepublished.ThebookrevieweditorattheJournalofPoliticalEconomydescribeditas“brilliantandfamous”andhighlightedtheedition’sglowingintroductorynotebythenBritishPrimeMinisterH.H.Asquith.(BookReviewandNotices,1909,pp.652–53)HenryHazlitt’sEconomicsinOneLesson,originallypublishedin1946,openlyandenthusiasticallyacknowledgesthebook’sdebtstoBastiat(Hazlitt,1946).FriedrichHayekwrotetheintroductiontothe1964translationofBastiat’sSelectedEssaysinPoliticalEconomy.”1Bastiat’swritings*TheauthorwouldliketothankhiscolleaguesintheEconomicsDepartmentatBallState,twoanonymousreferees,andEdStringhamforhelpfulcomments.Allerrorsremainhissoleresponsibility.1HayeknotedthatJosephSchumpetercalledBastiat“themostbrillianteconomicjournalistwhoeverlived.”HayekalsonotedSchumpeter’s“harshassessment”ofBastiatas“notatheorist”(Bastiat,1995,p.ix).Indeed,Schumpeter(1909,p.223)dismissedBastiatasamongeconomistswhose“importancewasnotverygreat”andwas“nowrapidlydeclining.”AcenturylaterPaulSamuelsonmentionedBastiatina144

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Title	A Pedagogical Note on Bastiat’s Restraint of Trade
Authors/Creators:	Cecil E. Bohanon, Ball State University
Year:	2012
Volume:	27
Number:	2
Pages:	144 - 150
Publisher:	The Association of Private Enterprise Education
ISSN:	0890-913X
Document Type:	Educational Notes
Keywords:	Fredric Bastiat, Marginal analysis, Trade theory, Economic education, restraint of trade, domestic production

Citation:
Bohanon, Cecil E. / 2012. "A Pedagogical Note on Bastiat’s Restraint of Trade." The Journal of Private Enterprise, 27(2): 144-150.