This is troubling. Perhaps history does not repeat but looks like it rhymes. The Smoot-Hawley Act contributed to the Great Depression. Now we have a looming trade war. Given Obama's promises to big labor it will be easy for the Democrats to place tarriffs and protect American industries.
From the WSJ
The World Trade Organization is gathering nations in a special meeting Monday to try to stem the rising tide, just two weeks after saying protectionism was largely under control. On Thursday, 10 European Union commissioners headed to Moscow for talks Friday with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials, where they plan to air complaints over the pace of new Russian trade barriers.
Economists and trade analysts say the current rash of trade constraints could make it harder for global economic growth to recover from the current downturn. Global trade is expected to shrink by more than 2.1% this year after growing by 6.2% in 2008, according to the WTO.
No comments:
Post a Comment