"Fair trade - paying a price premium for commodities based not on quality but on employment and other conditions - is counterproductive and unfair. It results in consumers getting a lower-quality product. Much of the gain from the price premium goes to the fair-trade bureaucracy rather than to...

This is a rejoinder to a criticism of Henderson (2008) by Alastair Smith. Our conclusion is that Henderson's basic case, although nicked around the edges by developments since the original was written, still stands. Moreover, we point out that Smith's criticism of Henderson's point that Fair...