Bill Weld on Free Trade Libertarian Party nominee for Vice President; former Republican Massachusetts Governor

Tariffs in 1920s croaked the world economy

WELD: In the purest sense, free trade is always going to benefit the United States compared to other countries because we have the highest rate of productivity and we're the most technologically advanced country in the world. So we're always going to have that edge. And free trade is going to produce high wage jobs in the United States. You know, it's an imperative to get the wage level up in this country. And that's one of the things that's going to do it. You may lose at the margin some low-wage jobs. But free trade over the long haul, even the intermediate haul, is going to increase the wage level in the United States. And the notion that Mr. Trump has of "let's impose these huge unilateral tariffs," we tried that with the Smoot-Hawley tariff in the 1920s and it croaked the world economy.

Despite being Libertarian VP, still interested in free trade

Libertarians may have to get used to Weld's wry humor. For his part, the former Massachusetts governor says he's now committed to the Libertarian cause. "Well, I read the platform yesterday, so now I know all the issues," Weld told me. "It's actually a pretty good platform."