Quote of the day 10th March 2021

Many things have changed since Lord Macauley wrote that 







Unfortunately the truth of that saying is not one of them. The enormous benefits of free trade tend to be diffused generally over the population, and far from obvious, while the advantages to any given producer interest of closing off competition so they can raise prices tend to be more clear and obvious to that group, who will tend to shout more loudly for protection. 

Only in exceptional circumstances - as, for instance, when the corn laws were helping to quite literally starve a large part of the population of Ireland to death during a terrible famine - do the costs of trade "protection" to society as a whole become more obvious than the benefits it confers on the producer groups protected.

I was pleased to see that the government has published new research outlining the huge benefits of international trade to British jobs and prosperity and set out a range of measures to propel a trade-led, jobs led recovery that will help us build back better and spread prosperity across the country. 

  • Export led jobs are more productive and higher paying, but currently too few businesses across our United Kingdom export and our economy is not international enough. 
     
  • As this report makes clear, the steps we are taking to liberalise trade and deepen ties with fast growing nations represents a historic opportunity to liberate the huge untapped potential of British businesses, boosting our role as global hub for digital and services trade, and will help us deliver an exports-led recovery. 
     
  • This will help create better, more productive jobs across every corner of our United Kingdom and strengthen our role as a world leader in green and digital exports that are key to building back better form the pandemic.


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