All right, it isn't my birthday. But I wanted to take this article to task for suggesting that free trade is enough to stop war. Anybody remember World War I? It was considered an absurdity that states so intertwined with each other would risk so much in war. We've heard the same story time and again, as states which traded amongst themselves decide more may be gained with warfare. The only time states don't fight--and here I except a few, a very few states in all of history--is when they think they'll lose. It's not yet time to trade with our enemies. It's time to convince them that if they fight, they will die. Sans virgins.

Bloodthirsty way to return, but there it is.

I should add that I'm a big fan of getting rid of protectionism, particularly (at the moment) in the steel and agricultural industries. But to claim it a panacea is either to be ignorant of history, or willfully to ignore it.