Walter Williams on the mercantilists' call for "free trade but fair trade"

Mark Perry uses a 2010 column published by Walter Williams to denote his comments on the idea of "free but fair trade." Highlights of the article include Williams' criticism of the idea of fairness in trade, and his analogy of limiting trade to limiting other freedoms such as religion or speech. Perry comments further on the subject when he highlights the fact that the term "fair trade" is usually code for some form of economic protectionism. As Williams also points out, trade occurs between individuals. The argument for free trade usually involves rhetoric involving nations trading with each other, but more times than not, trade is not conducted between government officials trading with other governments. However, fair trade means protectionism and governments cannot make trade more fair by making it less free.