Llewellyn H. Rockwell

About the author: Llewellyn H. Rockwell is president of the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama. He is also editor of the Rothbard-Rockwell Report, a monthly digest published by the Center for Libertarian Studies in Burlingame, California.

Campaigns against child labor are an attempt on the part of unions and labor activists to protect American jobs by banning imports made by children in foreign factories. These protectionists, whose arguments have been bolstered by the left-wing emphasis on children's rights, concoct grim tales about the so-called exploitation of child laborers in the third world. Their true goal is not to help working children but to weaken the competition from foreign industries and to increase the power of unions in the U.S. labor market. Moreover, the attempt to impose...