Since the 2008 election battles are already well under way, pressures toward protectionism to steal from others to line constituents’ pockets are intensifying. conclusions against which he can no longer contend.” “[The controversy over protectionism] its fruitlessness has been due, in large measure, to the
was promised is sensible policy. Unfortunately, President Trump’s affinity for protectionism substitutes misleading winner vs. loser rhetoric for mutual gains from reductions and reduced irrational regulation), those differences cannot overcome protectionism’s inherent social harm and widespread injustice. Consequently, America
would be even more tilted toward American producers than earlier plans. Biden’s protectionism, closely following Trump’s and many before him, relies on a false them preference, other things being equal. That is not all it is. At its heart, protectionism is actually a conspiracy between American producers and the American
competing workers stops at the border, unions have long been the core backers of protectionism. They focus their attention on those getting special protection, then will also spread throughout the economy to benefit others. But they ignore protectionism’s much larger harms — to all other workers who would have gained from
they are essentially contests between domestic and foreign producers, so that protectionism for “our” firms against “their” firms sounds sensible. Unfortunately, trade creates wealth, rather than conserving it (why every defensible study of protectionism, which restricts voluntary trades, finds that it destroys wealth). A
import quotas that limit competition from foreign suppliers of sugar. As with all protectionism beneficiaries, they roll out all manner of bogus arguments to defend it squadrons are a means whereby nations seek to prevent their enemies from trading; [protectionism] to prevent their own people from trading. What protection teaches us
stops at the border, unions have also been the primary movers behind government protectionism of all stripes. But protectionism undermines the interests of all those workers who would have gained
the Constitution is good for nothing if not to prevent this kind of state-to-state protectionism. Right? Well, that is the impression you get from those who are
border, labor unions and the politicians they rent are the primary force behind protectionism today. Union strategy, presented as the agenda of labor (rather than claims and arguments, unions have continued to finesse the fact that all protectionism must by its nature harm the vast majority and “sell” many on those
“non-presidential” words and advocacy of policies (e.g., eminent domain abuse and protectionism, which could easily lead to trade wars) that are likely to harm his be good for voters as well as demonstrating those voters’ goodness. For instance, protectionism is sold as good for voters (though it can only be good for some at even
What is the Mises Institute?
The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.
Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.