Skepticism about fairness in the global economy comes easily in the face of impersonal, unruly, and merciless global economic forces. When a government is brought to its knees overnight by capital flight, or when trade flows steadily rout a country’s familiar industrial or agricultural base, it can seem odd, even amusing, to ask whether this is fair. The question of fairness or unfairness can seem out of place, naïve, or in any case of little consequence for hard questions about what policies to adopt. For many economists and economics-minded observers, however, skepticism is thought to be in order, not for such practical reasons, but for reasons of economic theory. Sophisticated considerations of international economics and political economy seem, to many, to imply that fairness has little practical significance, or even any applicability, in serious matters of international trade and trade-related policy. The sophisticated considerations begin from the standard economic case for free trade, as understood since Adam Smith. According to both classical and neo-classical trade theory, the basic rationale for removing trade barriers depends only on considerations of productive efficiency and aggregate national income. The case for free trade, moreover, is unilateral: countries are wise to free trade whatever other countries do. No assumptions about fairness seem required. But if fairness is to have some further practical role, it is not clear what it might be, especially once we appreciate the force of efficiency considerations. Some fairness talk is simply redundant, as when an inefficient subsidy is called “unfair.” Other fairness claims seem inconsistent with economic considerations, as when “unfairness” is seen in normal market competition. In some cases, fairness talk can even seem pernicious—a mere pretext for “protectionism,” and even a threat to liberal order of trade. Thus eminent trade economist Jagdish Bhagwati complains, in a similar connection, that the idea of “fair trade” is a “Pandora’s box” which has “grown out of hand.”[1] Such skepticism in effect challenges our thesis that the global economy generates its own, internal fairness issues...