Quote of the day - faith and trade

Via Cafe Hayek comes this quote from Richard Cobden:

They who propose to influence by force the traffic of the world, forget that affairs of trade, like matters of conscience, change their very nature if touched by the hand of violence; for as faith, if forced, would no longer be religion, but hypocrisy, so commerce becomes robbery if coerced by warlike armaments.

It's a condemnation of trade warriors like Trump and those more gentle of sabre rattlers like David Cameron with his 'global race'. Trade isn't about wins, losses, victories or defeats. Trade is about mutual advantage, cooperation, collaboration and getting richer together. And the more free that trade the better.

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