----------------- HES POSTING ----------------- Rod, I fully agree. I was only responding to the claim that somehow the arguments of Hamilton and List reflected some kind of early nineteenth century eclecticism and that they were going against some fully established or deeply entrenched free trade doctrine. It is certainly the case that many British economists were pro free trade in the early 1800s. But this viewpoint had still not established itself in the policy realm, and would only do so later. Please note that I did not say anything positive or negative about the Hamilton et al arguments, but only commented that views for or against free trade reflected the situations in specific countries. Barkley Rosser ------------ FOOTER TO HES POSTING ------------ For information, send the message "info HES" to [log in to unmask]