States of Autarky

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Chronicles :

States of Autarky

Greg Kaza - MAY 01, 2008

The Benefits of Self-Sufficiency

 

A great many economists and politicians contend that the absence of trade inevitably leads to armed conflict. Thus, in the interests of national security, they insist on virtually unlimited trade and castigate those who favor its restriction as proponents of autarky—a term that few understand yet most agree to be negative, isolationist, and perhaps even extremist.

 

Economist.com, for example, defines autarky as the idea that a nation-state should be “self-sufficient and not take part in international trade.” They warn us that

 

The experience of countries that have pursued this Utopian ideal by substituting domestic production for imports is an unhappy one. No country has been able to produce the full range of goods demanded by its population at competitive prices. Indeed, those that have tried to do so have condemned themselves to inefficiency and comparative poverty, compared with countries that engage in international trade.