Max wrote >Somebody should do a number on how Krugman's >academic work deflates free trade theory/ideology.
It does and it doesn't. Krugman is a free trader because, and not despite, of his academic work. Krugman's work is similar to that for an "optimal tariff" in that it is possible to, theoretically, identify a government intervention into trade that makes the nation (doing the intervention) "better off." But the response of Krugman to his own work has been to point out: 1) information failures made it difficult if not impossible to determine a particular government intervention that will lead to good results (because of this a "bad" intervention is likely to occur that makes the nation worse off) 2) in any case interest group politics will mean that the actual government interventions into trade will not be those that help the nation but will be those that help powerful interest groups, and 3) if the foreign nation retaliates to the government intervention everyone might be worse off. These are the reasons that Krugman tends to be a free trader as have those who have analyzed optimal tariffs. Eric Nilsson Economics CSUSB
