Infant Industry Argument
Argument that industries in the developing and emerging sectors of the economy need protection against international competition in order to establish themselves.
Summary
Alexander Hamilton introduced the concept of Infant Industry Argument back in 1791 wanting to protect the U.S. from imports from Great Britain. Friedrich List later published his book in 1841, National System of Political Economy, where he gave a more detailed overview of the Infant Industry Argument.
The idea behind Infant Industry Argument is to protect industries during their early stages of development, especially those in countries with a low economic scale. Wanting to stimulate domestic production and attract foreign investments. In hopes to create employment and develop the domestic market and reduce the need on production in a foreign country.
Discussion
There is a lot of criticism regarding Infant Industry Argument, most importantly, that the merging industry is being coddled by this protection. Implying that because of this protection the new industry will lack the motivation to be self-sufficient and competitive. However, I ask you how else a new developing industry in a country can that relies on imported goods to survive be able to be come remotely self-sufficient. They can not without some form of protection and support from the government. Although, I am sure there are some countries that take an advantage, I don’t believe eliminating the support and protection.
Infant industry argument. (n.d.) Financial Glossary. (2011). Retrieved November 8, 2018
from https://financial-
Infant Industry Argument. (2010, June 10). Retrieved November 6, 2018, from
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