Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Why has the case for free trade — made plainly by Adam Smith 250 years ago — never managed to win over the public? Friedman thinks Smith already gave us the answer. Free trade serves the broad public, but works against the concentrated interests of merchants and manufacturers. And those with concentrated interests fight harder than those with diffuse ones. Smith called it "interested sophistry." Friedman says there's little to add. The argument hasn't changed, and neither has the opposition.
Why has the case for free trade — made plainly by Adam Smith 250 years ago — never managed to win over the public? Friedman thinks Smith already gave us the answer. Free trade serves the broad public, but works against the concentrated interests of merchants and manufacturers. And those with concentrated interests fight harder than those with diffuse ones. Smith called it "interested sophistry." Friedman says there's little to add. The argument hasn't changed, and neither has the opposition.
