Does Jones Act protect national security?

Expert Colin Grabow to tackle persistent justification for protectionist maritime law that increases prices in Hawaii

News Release from Grassroot Institute, May 26, 2020

HONOLULU, May 26, 2020 >> There is no doubt that the Jones Act adds to Hawaii’s high cost of living, but what about the claim that it is essential to protecting our national security?

Colin Grabow, one of America’s foremost experts on the protectionist federal maritime law, calls that belief “more of an article of faith than the product of rigorous analysis,” and explains why at a free live webinar on Thursday, May 28, starting at 2 p.m. HST. (8pm EST).

The Jones Act, of course, is that century-old law that requires all goods transported between U.S. ports to be on U.S.-built and flagged ships that are mostly crewed and owned by Americans.

In his November 2019 report, “Rust Buckets: How the Jones Act Undermines U.S. Shipbuilding and National Security,” issued by the Cato Institute, Grabow wrote that  America’s “dwindling numbers of ships, mariners, and shipyards” has “deeply compromised” the U.S. military’s ability to “leverage these civilian assets during times of war.” He said this was “the predictable result of the Jones Act’s misguided protectionism, whose theoretical underpinnings are deeply at odds with both sound economics and modern maritime realities.”

Grabow is a policy analyst at the Cato Institute’s Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies. His research focuses on domestic forms of trade protectionism such as the Jones Act and the U.S. sugar program. His writings have appeared in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Hill, National Review and many other publications.

After his presentation, he fields questions from the audience. 

Moderators for Grabow’s hourlong webinar will be Keli'i Akina and Joe Kent, president and executive vice president, respectively, of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii.

The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit policy research organization that seeks, in the spirit of “E hana kakou!” (Let’s work together!), to educate people about the values of individual liberty, economic freedom and accountable government.

Related: Rust Buckets: How the Jones Act Undermines U.S. Shipbuilding and National Security