Mercifully, free trade has escaped a US onslaught

The Guardian ^ | May 20th, 2008 | Bill Emmott

[The_Republican]

Those of us who support globalisation, who celebrate the way it has raised living standards and reduced poverty around the world, are forever worrying that there may soon be a backlash, a revival of protectionism and economic nationalism. We mutter angrily whenever politicians make nationalist noises. With Barack Obama emerging victorious as the Democratic candidate for America's November election, the muttering is going to resume - for against all his virtues, one of his vices is that he has been talking tough about trade. But on current evidence the muttering will be misplaced. The surprise is how nice he has been about trade, not how nasty.

A year ago, the prime candidate for a protectionist backlash was the fount of globalisation itself, the United States. If anyone had said then that in the midst of the American presidential election the country would be suffering a recession caused by a financial crisis, most economists would have predicted a big upsurge in protectionism during the campaign. It is time to admit that this hasn't happened. America is not becoming isolationist. In fact, globalisation is not under any serious threat at all, from either side of the Atlantic.

How can a free trader such as me make such a complacent statement? Don't I know that during the Democratic party's amazingly long and dramatic primary contest, both Obama and Hillary Clinton have made speeches attacking trade deals? Didn't I notice that the US Congress recently rejected a proposed bilateral trade deal with Colombia, and that other trade arrangements, including one with South Korea, also look under threat. Yes, I do and I did - and this is all to be regretted and criticised. But it is still not a serious threat to globalisation.

[wastedyears]

Protectionism can help save this country. We really, really need to stop bending over backwards for Venezuela, Iran, Russia and China.

[annelizly]

“who celebrate the way it has raised living standards and reduced poverty around the world,”

Am I the only one here who doesn’t give a rats ass about raising the living standards of anyone in other countries???

I guess i just have my hands full trying to figure out how to acquire a decent middle class living for my own family and my elderly mother and trying to figure out how the heck i am going to put my three kids through college to worry about how people are living in other countries.

wish i was rich enough to believe that everyone in america was living flush and that the only hardships are happening in third world countries.

[cripplecreek]

I can’t wait for the pro globalism thread that touts the advantages of dealing with communists who sell the weapons to our enemies so they can kill our soldiers.

Maybe they can run down a cost analysis of how much the lives of our troops are worth as opposed to how much money is made.

[VeniVidiVici]

With Barack Obama emerging victorious as the Democratic candidate for America's November election, the muttering is going to resume - for against all his virtues, one of his vices is that he has been talking tough about trade

Virtues? What, pray tell, are his virtues? That he can be molded because he's yound, dumb and stupid? That he thinks we have 57 states and a caliphate is just around the corner? That we could possibly believe he attended a church for 20 years but never listened to a sermon (ok, maybe he's an easy sleeper).

[Ramius]

Protectionism can help save this country.

Yeah, that Smoot-Hawley act just yanked us outta that depression, didn't it...