Mutually Assured Depression

The American Thinker ^ | March 10, 2009 | Tom Wyler

[Scanian]

Protectionist moves in the midst of a worldwide economic contraction threaten to provoke massive retalitation.

During the Cold War, a favorite acronym of Defense Department planners was MAD, which stood for mutually assured destruction. The logic of MAD was straight forward: if the Soviets fired their nuclear weapons, and we could launch ours before theirs hit us, thereby ensuring that we would all be destroyed, nobody would ever be crazy enough to launch their warheads. Interestingly, at this moment of profound economic crisis, the 'MAD logic' is once again applicable, though today it means something slightly different: mutually assured depression.

If, in a misguided effort to stimulate the American economy, we raise barriers to trade, which would be akin to a first strike, our trading partners will do the same, and this crisis will be prolonged and severely deepened. Yet unlike the Cold War period, where our leaders were typically very careful not to be too provocative in their public pronouncements, leaders today keep publicly toying with this idea of launching our economic nuclear weapons.

As our domestic purchasing power continues to fall, reliable access to global markets, where some demand for American goods and services remains, is critical to preventing the further collapse of our domestic economy.

[GiovannaNicoletta]

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[valkyry1]

The analogy is poor and sadly the logic will not apply.