This is THE Threat of Our Age
I posted about the alarming outbreak of protectionism here. In the FT today, the Lex column (page 14) emphasizes the seriousness of this development with some dark humor:
"The Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce is the latest entrant in the contest to find the world's most protectionist organisation. Competition is firece for this dubious accolade. The US Congress and the governments of France and Spain are all strong contenders."
Watch these developments closely. Protectionism - not an oil shock, not adjustable mortgages resetting, not the trade deficit (read this) - will be the source of any global economic crisis in our future. Senators Schumer (D-NY) and Graham (R-SC) are traveling to China to do some assessing before they decide on proposing trade tariffs on Chinese goods. Let's hope the food agrees with them and they have an otherwise fantastic time, so we are all spared the bipartisan idiocy that this duo is flogging. Lives are at stake. I am not exaggerating. Global depression was a major contributing factor to the rise of illiberal regimes preceding World War II. Do Schumer and Graham want to have a place in history alongside Reed Smoot and Willis C. Hawley?
"The Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce is the latest entrant in the contest to find the world's most protectionist organisation. Competition is firece for this dubious accolade. The US Congress and the governments of France and Spain are all strong contenders."
Watch these developments closely. Protectionism - not an oil shock, not adjustable mortgages resetting, not the trade deficit (read this) - will be the source of any global economic crisis in our future. Senators Schumer (D-NY) and Graham (R-SC) are traveling to China to do some assessing before they decide on proposing trade tariffs on Chinese goods. Let's hope the food agrees with them and they have an otherwise fantastic time, so we are all spared the bipartisan idiocy that this duo is flogging. Lives are at stake. I am not exaggerating. Global depression was a major contributing factor to the rise of illiberal regimes preceding World War II. Do Schumer and Graham want to have a place in history alongside Reed Smoot and Willis C. Hawley?
posted by Donny Baseball at 9:20 AM
1 Comments:
The link actually is related to an item on the trade deficit. I agree that we should use leverage to get the Chinese to respect IP although tariffs would still be a dicey tactic. I would only support highly targeted tariffs at products that clearly violate IP, e.g. if the Chinese started exporting cars with patented engine technology. In the long run the Chinese are going to produce something patentable and the world might be inclined to steal their IP if they don't come around between now and then. So it would behoove them to shape up, and the best tactic is to stick to free-trade principles and persuade them of their long term best interest.
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