March 16, 2011 10:09AM 

# Bastiat on the Japanese Tsunami 

By [Tom G. Palmer](https://www.cato.org/people/tom-g-palmer) 

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Nathan Gardels at the *Huffington Post* [writes](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nathan-gardels/the-silver-lining-of-japa_b_835417.html) (emphasis added):

> No one — least of all someone like myself who has experienced the existential terror of California’s regular tremors and knows the big one is coming here next — would minimize the grief, suffering and disruption caused by Japan’s massive earthquake and tsunami.
> 
> 
> But if one can look past the devastation, there is a silver lining. The need to rebuild a large swath of Japan **will create huge opportunities for domestic economic growth**, particularly in energy-efficient technologies, **while also stimulating global demand and hastening the integration of East Asia**.

But as French political economist Frédéric Bastiat noted, destruction isn’t stimulative because it cannot create wealth:

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