Politics

Don’t Ignore the Best Clause in the U.S. Constitution

While on my cruise, I’m also reading the fifth volume of Murray Rothbard’s book “Conceived in Liberty,” which discusses the debates over the U.S. Constitution. Deftly edited by Professor Patrick Newman, the book is a fascinating read.

I certainly agree with Rothbard that the Constitution granted a great deal of new powers to the federal government and that the slavery clause was most unfortunate as it eventually required the bloody Civil War to resolve.

Nevertheless, there are a lot of checks and balances and they kept the United States from becoming a big government state until the 1930s! That’s not bad.

Here’s my biggest concern with the book. From what I can tell, Rothbard fails to mention the extremely important libertarian prohibition on the states’ ability to impose tariffs and quotas. In essence, this clause eventually created a gigantic “free-trade zone” in all 50 of the states. This is one reason why America has become a major economic behemoth.

According to historians, the adoption of the Import-Export Clause was heavily debated, even more so than the Commerce Clause. Here is what the Import-Export Clause says:

“No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Control of the Congress.”

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– United States Constitution Article I, § 10, Clause 2

Rothbard spends considerable ink on various details of the Constitutional debates, and yet he leaves out this vital clause that made America great. Maybe it’s because it goes against Rothbard’s main thesis that the Constitution was a disaster and is not a radical document like the Declaration of Independence had been.

To read Rothbard’s new volume and the others, go here.

Mark Skousen

Mark Skousen, Ph. D., is a professional economist, investment expert, university professor, and author of more than 25 books. He earned his Ph. D. in monetary economics at George Washington University in 1977. He has taught economics and finance at Columbia Business School, Columbia University, Grantham University, Barnard College, Mercy College, Rollins College, and is a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University. He also has been a consultant to IBM, Hutchinson Technology, and other Fortune 500 companies. Since 1980, Skousen has been editor in chief of Forecasts & Strategies, a popular award-winning investment newsletter. He also is editor of four trading services, Skousen TNT Trader, Skousen Five Star Trader, Skousen Low-Priced Stock Trader, and Skousen Fast Money Alert. He is a former analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency, a columnist to Forbes magazine (1997-2001), and past president of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) in New York. He has written articles for The Wall Street Journal, Liberty, Reason, Human Events, the Daily Caller, Christian Science Monitor, and The Journal of Economic Perspectives. He has appeared on ABC News, CNBC Power Lunch, CNN, Fox News, and C-SPAN Book TV. In 2008-09, he was a regular contributor to Larry Kudlow & Co. on CNBC. His economic bestsellers include “Economics on Trial” (Irwin, 1991), “Puzzles and Paradoxes on Economics” (Edward Elgar, 1997), “The Making of Modern Economics” (M. E. Sharpe, 2001, 2009), “The Big Three in Economics” (M. E. Sharpe, 2007), “EconoPower” (Wiley, 2008), and “Economic Logic” (2000, 2010). In 2009, “The Making of Modern Economics” won the Choice Book Award for Outstanding Academic Title. His financial bestsellers include “The Complete Guide to Financial Privacy” (Simon & Schuster, 1983), “High Finance on a Low Budget” (Bantam, 1981), co-authored with his wife Jo Ann, “Scrooge Investing” (Little Brown, 1995; McGraw Hill, 1999), and “Investing in One Lesson” (Regnery, 2007). In honor of his work in economics, finance, and management, Grantham University renamed its business school “The Mark Skousen School of Business.” Dr. Skousen has lived in eight nations, and has traveled and lectured throughout the United States and 70 countries. He grew up in Portland, Ore. He and his wife, Jo Ann, and five children have lived in Washington, D.C.; Nassau, the Bahamas; London, England; Orlando, Fla.; and New York. For more information about Mark’s services, go to http://www.markskousen.com/