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  3. For the past 250 years, politicians and hard-headed men of business have diligently ignored what economics, has to say about the

For the past 250 years, politicians and hard-headed men of business have diligently ignored what economics, has to say about the

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问题     For the past 250 years, politicians and hard-headed men of business have diligently ignored what economics, has to say about the gains from trade—much as they may pretend, or in some cases even believe, that they are paying close attention. Except for those on the hard left, politicians of every ideological stripe these days swear their allegiance to the basic principle of free trade. Businessmen say the same. So when either group issues its calls for barriers against foreign competition, it is never because free trade is wrong in principle, it is because foreigners are cheating somehow, rendering the principles void. Or else it is because something about the way the world works has changed, so that the basic principles, ever valid in themselves, need to be adjusted. And those adjustments, of course, then oblige these staunch defenders of free-trade-in-principle to call for all manners of restrictions on trade.
    In this way, protectionism is periodically refreshed and reinvented. Anti-trade sentiment, especially in the United States, is currently becoming one of its strongest revivals in years. Earlier bogus "new conditions" that were deemed to undermine the orthodox case for liberal trade included the growth of crossborder capital flows, the recognition that some industries exposed to foreign competition may have strategic significance for the wider economy, and concerns over exploitation of workers in developing countries. Today’s bogus new condition, which is proving far more potent in political terms than any of the others, is the fact that international competition is now impinging on industries previously sheltered from it by the constraints of technology and geography.
    It is no longer just manufacturing that is feeling the pressure of toreign competition. It is no longer just dirty blue-collar jobs that are moving offshore. Jobs in services are now migrating as well, some of them requiring advanced skills, notably in computer programming. Services constitute much the larger part of every advanced economy. At the end of this process, what will be left? Gosh, Adam Smith never thought of this. Trade policy needs to be, completely rethought. Well, actually , no Gregory Mankiw, chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers , pointed out recently that if services can be sourced more cheaply overseas than at home, it is to America’s advantage to seize that opportunity. This simple restatement of the logic of liberal trade brought derision down on Mr. Mankiw’s head—and the supposedly pro-trade administration he works for conspicuously failed to defend the plain truth he had advanced. That was disturbing.
    The fact that foreign competition now impinges on services as well as manufacturing raises no new issues of principle whatever. If a car can be made more cheaply in Mexico, it should be. If a telephone enquiry can be processed more cheaply in India, it should be. All such transactions raise real incomes on both sides, as resources are advantageously redeployed, with added investment and growth in the exporting country, and lower prices in the importing country. Yes, trade is a positive-sum game. (Adam Smith did think of that.)
It can be inferred from the first paragraph that ______.
选项 A、America has a fine history of showing respect to free trade
B、many businessmen and politicians will abandon free trade for their own benefits
C、the hard left politicians in America are real firm advocates of free trade principle
D、businessmen and politicians in America seldom agree with each other in terms of trade
答案B
解析 推理题。第一段提到，任何派别的政客都发誓会遵守自由贸易的基本原则，商人也这么说，一旦某一个团体呼吁要抵制国外竞争，则说明需要调整曾经有效的基本原则，而这些调整却使得那些自由贸易基本原则的坚定支持者要求限制贸易。由此可知，政客和商人为了自己的利益会放弃自由贸易原则。B符合题意，为正确选项。A与该段第一句话的意思不符；C与该段第二句话的意思不符；该段第二、三句话表明政客和商人现在的观点一致，所以D不对。
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