Horse dung. This country was made great under protectionist policies that lasted throughout the building of this great country. Only in the last several decades has this been changing radically. And look at the economy, look at how many of our jobs are leaving for third world countries, look at our manufacturing base, as we continue to import millions both legal and illegals to flood our very sick job market.
Thanks, but I'll go with Buchanan's America first policies. I've seen enough of this global economy BS. Are you waiting for it to get worse? You may not have a long wait.
And yes, we did have protectionist policies, and yes, the cost us tremendously. The Smoot-Hawley tariff is estimated to have cost us 5% of GNP, or the equivalent of the Navigation Acts AND the OPEC oil embargo of the 1970s combined. Yep, them's smart policies. Thank God ol' Patty isn't in charge, because things would already have gotten worse.