Trade and Aid

I argued back in January that trade liberalization would be a terrific form of aid to countries that suffered from the December tsunami:

One of the best ways to aid developing countries, regardless of whether they were hit by the earthquake and tsunami, is to open the borders to their exports. The EU is doing this by speeding up the implementation of trade liberalization policies for Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, et al...

In support of my earlier piece, I refer you to this by Tyler Cowen of Marginal Revolution:

Total tsunami foreign aid from the U.S.: $908 million

U.S. tariff revenue from Sri Lanka, Thailand, India, and Indonesia: $1.87 billion