Quiz: On the Question of Free Trade

11 questions drawn at random. Score 80% for a silver medal.

1. Why did Engels think an English translation of the speech useful in 1888? The Corn Laws were about to be restored by the Tory government The tariff question was then on the order of the day in America Britain was about to abandon free trade for imperial preference The speech had never been published
2. Who, according to Marx, “entirely agrees with the workers” that cheaper corn means lower wages and higher profits? Adam Smith Ricardo, the apostle of the free traders Malthus Dr. Bowring, the League’s statistician
3. What, according to Marx, is free trade under present conditions of society? Freedom of the worker Freedom of the consumer Freedom of Capital Freedom of nations
4. Does Marx’s criticism of free trade mean he defends protection? Yes: protection is the workers’ only shield against foreign competition No: he favours a fixed duty on corn as a compromise between the two No: one may oppose constitutionalism without favouring absolutism Yes, but only for agriculture, to keep the peasants on the land
5. According to Engels, under what system was modern English industry hatched in the last third of the eighteenth century? Guild regulation Protection Mercantile laissez-faire Free trade
6. What did Engels tell an American protectionist about free trade? Free trade would help America only once England had gone back to protection America should keep her tariff until she had overtaken England in every branch With free trade America would in ten years beat England in the world market If America went for free trade, English goods would ruin her industry in ten years
7. What does Engels call protection, because protecting one industry harms others that then also need protection? A house of cards An endless screw A double-edged sword A sinking ship
8. Which enthusiastic free trader does Marx quote as saying every improvement of mechanism aims to do without the labour of men or reduce its price? Mr. Greg Richard Cobden Dr. Bowring Dr. Ure
9. What rule does Marx lay down against Bowring’s import figures? Never base general laws on one year; take the average of six or seven Use only the official returns of the Board of Trade, never private estimates Always take the latest year, since earlier figures reflect a different tariff Ignore import figures and judge only by the wages actually paid to workers
10. How do the English people regard the free traders who want to give them cheap food, according to Marx? With indifference As fellow Chartists in the struggle for the People’s Charter As their benefactors and natural allies They see in Bowring, Bright and Co. their worst enemies
11. How does Engels quote Marx on the system of protection? “A conspiracy of landlords” “An artificial means of manufacturing manufacturers” “The natural defence of national labour” “The highest stage of capitalism”

0 of 11 answered