More Protectionism and Regulation Won’t Fix the Economy
Trade controls and immigration quotas are just more government regulation. And that won't help revive the economy.
Trade controls and immigration quotas are just more government regulation. And that won't help revive the economy.
France faces a future of spiraling debt and declining economic growth. So Emmanuel Macron has now embraced economic nationalism as a way out. It's not likely to work.
France faces a future of spiraling debt and declining economic growth. So Emmanuel Macron has now embraced economic nationalism as a way out. It's not likely to work.
It is thanks to global trade that we now have access to many more resources for treatment and prevention of disease, including COVID-19.
Current global bailouts may put off global busts for quite some time. But they will weaken output and employment gains. People's standard of living will stagnate or even fall, even in the short term. With this comes impoverishment and perhaps even social unrest.
Politicians and pundits have a blind spot when it comes to international economic transactions. They ignore a portion of trade! In particular, they ignore trade in claims on future income—that is, stocks and bonds.
Politicians and pundits have a blind spot when it comes to international economic transactions. They ignore a portion of trade! In particular, they ignore trade in claims on future income—that is, stocks and bonds.
Protectionists think China is a geopolitical threat. I get that. But their (weak) arguments about China don't apply at all to the rest of the world.
Whether we're talking about the Trump years or not, the idea that the United States embraces unconditional free trade at all costs—while being victimized by foreign protectionists—is based on fantasy.