To Our Readers

By John Flanagan

Saturday, September 20, 1997

History repeats itself
in Hawaii

SAME old problems, same old answers. That was the headline on a story this week about how in 1984 a panel came up with findings and solutions remarkably similar to ones the governor's Economic Revitalization Task Force is considering right now.

Reminds me of the age-old struggle between protectionism and free trade:

1786: Daniel Shays leads economically strapped farmers in rebellion; Congress forbids states to levy tariffs or embargoes against each other restricting internal free trade.

1823: John Quincy Adams signs the ''Tariff of Abominations'' favoring Northern manufacturers over Southern planters; South resists setting the stage for Civil War.

1850: Britain embraces free trade, removes tariffs, begins prosperous ''Golden Age.''

1930: Smoot-Halley tariff raises duties to highest rates in history; foreign markets close to U.S. goods; Great Depression ensues.

1993: Bill Clinton signs the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) phasing out all tariffs and trade barriers over 14 years.

1997: Bucking national and global moves toward prosperous open markets, Hawaii's Legislature OKs a bill to ''protect'' local businesses, who can win state contracts by bidding 7 percent above the lowest out-of-state bid.

Free trade breeds competition, efficiency and productivity. Protectionism creates the kind of economic stagnation we're stuck in today. Same old problem, bad old answer.