International trade expert Scott Lincicome will challenge common assumptions about trade in a talk on Jan. 29, including whether imports destroy jobs while tariffs create them and whether globalization caused widespread “deindustrialization” in the U.S. His talk, “What You Think You Know About Trade is Probably Wrong,” will be held at 5:30 p.m. in Statler Hall, room 198. Hosted by Cornell’s Program on Freedom and Free Societies, the talk is free and open to the public. It will also be live streamed; register to participate via Zoom.
One of the nation’s foremost experts on U.S. trade and industrial policy, Lincicome is an advocate for free trade and increased global economic integration. He will argue that, contrary to the prevailing political rhetoric: tariffs often reduce output and employment, while imports often do the opposite; that trade deficits aren’t inherently bad or good; and that most of the talk about U.S. “deindustrialization” fails to distinguish between factory output and factory jobs.
His talk will also examine what globalization is, what trade means for supply chains and economic shocks, and why openness can actually boost resiliency and strengthen national security. He will close his discussion by exploring why so many Americans – and American politicians – often misunderstand basic trade policy issues.
“Lincicome can explain both the underlying theory and the empirical evidence in support of his views,” said Michael Fontaine, professor of classics in the College of Arts and Sciences. “He brings clarity to a subject often obscured by sloganeering.” Fontaine, director of the Program on Freedom and Free Societies, will introduce Lincicome and moderate the following Q&A.
Lincicome is vice president for general economics and director of the Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies at the Cato Institute. His research and writing focus on international trade, industrial policy and subsidies, manufacturing and global supply chains, with an emphasis on how policy choices affect growth, innovation and resilience. He spent two decades practicing international trade law and is a senior visiting lecturer at Duke University School of Law.
“What You Think You Know About Trade is Probably Wrong” is being presented thanks to the support of Michael J. Millette ’87 and the Millette family as well as that of the Triad Foundation and other donors.
