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Short term expense of the citizens. Nurturing local business is a long term benefit strategy. Protectionism is how every nation on the planet developed. Why ar

by biokoda 11y ago

Short term expense of the citizens. Nurturing local business is a long term benefit strategy. Protectionism is how every nation on the planet developed. Why are Americans driving South Korean/Japanese cars and not the other way around? Because the south koreans and the japanese imposed large tariffs on car imports and the US did not. Their car companies had free range on their own turf. Which gave them time and money to develop. Silicon valley is not giving the outside world any chance of competing.

rtpg 11y ago
The US practices a huge amount of protectionism as well. The reason that the Americans are driving Japanese cars is that they were built in the US (which happens because of the protectionism). Ford doesn't build cars in Japan. The end result is good for most people (consumers get more choice, jobs are still in the country).
- biokoda 11y ago
  Yes and those japanese companies developed in their home turf and became strong enough to compete in the world market. The japanese government nurtured their industry. When it comes to internet based businesses this is not done. The end result is silicon valley dominating everyone else because that's where it all started and where the most money right now is.
- bduerst 11y ago
  You're forgetting the bailouts for the American auto industry and the ghost town known as Detroit. Protectionism stagnates technological development because of the artificially stymied competition. Once the major players from hyper-competitive markets inevitably enter the protected market, then they outperform the resident industry there. Protectionism props up non-competitive markets, which is disruptive for citizens when they fall down.
  - rtpg 11y ago
    That's a good point. The auto industry might not be the best place for where you want to apply protectionism. But one pretty good usage is when the local industry is in its infancy. It's pretty well accepted that the IMF forcing so many African countries to drop agriculture-related tariffs has been among the biggest failures of modern economics.
- gaius 11y ago
  Indeed, also see https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=KC-X&redirect=no#Restarted_competition https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=KC-X&redirect=n...
hueving 11y ago
>Why are Americans driving South Korean/Japanese cars and not the other way around? They care about consumer freedom, that's why. What you are implying is that competition can never work and that people with a head start should be regulated away. It screws the consumer and there is no proof it works best in the long run. France is super protectionist but they aren't doing so well. In many cases, it just has knock on effects that make other industries uncompetitive. Can't buy the best engines, therefore we can't compete in any market that requires good engines, etc.
- scott_s 11y ago
  American trade laws do not hold consumer freedom sacred. America has lots of protectionist policies - including a related one on trucks: http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/06/12/414029929/episode-632-the-chicken-tax http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/06/12/414029929/episo...
  - marcosdumay 11y ago
    The US is one of the less protectionist countries in the world. The fact is that we live in a kafkan place where everybody seems to think that letting consumers choose what they want to buy hurts them, that delivering goods make a country rich, but receiving payment makes it poorer, and that a government picking winners on every market is the best way to ensure competition. You'll certainly see several protectionist policies at the US, what is extremely annoying, because they claim to be a completely open country. But the US is still one of the less protectionist ones.
    - scott_s 11y ago
      By what metric are you claiming the US is less protectionist than most other nations? We have a lot of farm subsidies and tariffs and limitations in imports, and I have never heard any claim that the US somehow does significantly less than other nations.
      - marcosdumay 11y ago
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
MarcusVorenus 11y ago
>Protectionism is how every nation on the planet developed You must be joking. Countries with open markets develop way faster than protectionist countries. If mercantilism is so good then why are the Asian Tigers doing so well and communist countries doing so bad?
- scott_s 11y ago
  Protectionism is not synonymous with communism. Most capitalistic countries - including the US - practices protectionism in a variety of ways.
- biokoda 11y ago
  What does communism have to do with anything? Protectionism is exactly how the Asian Tigers developed their economies. You don't have to take it from me, read it from a prominent South Korean economist: http://www.amazon.com/Things-They-Dont-About-Capitalism/dp/1608193381 http://www.amazon.com/Things-They-Dont-About-Capitalism/dp/1...

by biokoda 11y ago

rtpg 11y ago

The US practices a huge amount of protectionism as well. The reason that the Americans are driving Japanese cars is that they were built in the US (which happens because of the protectionism). Ford doesn't build cars in Japan. The end result is good for most people (consumers get more choice, jobs are still in the country).

biokoda 11y ago
Yes and those japanese companies developed in their home turf and became strong enough to compete in the world market. The japanese government nurtured their industry. When it comes to internet based businesses this is not done. The end result is silicon valley dominating everyone else because that's where it all started and where the most money right now is.
bduerst 11y ago
You're forgetting the bailouts for the American auto industry and the ghost town known as Detroit. Protectionism stagnates technological development because of the artificially stymied competition. Once the major players from hyper-competitive markets inevitably enter the protected market, then they outperform the resident industry there. Protectionism props up non-competitive markets, which is disruptive for citizens when they fall down.
- rtpg 11y ago
  That's a good point. The auto industry might not be the best place for where you want to apply protectionism. But one pretty good usage is when the local industry is in its infancy. It's pretty well accepted that the IMF forcing so many African countries to drop agriculture-related tariffs has been among the biggest failures of modern economics.
gaius 11y ago
Indeed, also see https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=KC-X&redirect=no#Restarted_competition https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=KC-X&redirect=n...

hueving 11y ago

>Why are Americans driving South Korean/Japanese cars and not the other way around? They care about consumer freedom, that's why. What you are implying is that competition can never work and that people with a head start should be regulated away. It screws the consumer and there is no proof it works best in the long run. France is super protectionist but they aren't doing so well. In many cases, it just has knock on effects that make other industries uncompetitive. Can't buy the best engines, therefore we can't compete in any market that requires good engines, etc.

scott_s 11y ago
American trade laws do not hold consumer freedom sacred. America has lots of protectionist policies - including a related one on trucks: http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/06/12/414029929/episode-632-the-chicken-tax http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/06/12/414029929/episo...
- marcosdumay 11y ago
  The US is one of the less protectionist countries in the world. The fact is that we live in a kafkan place where everybody seems to think that letting consumers choose what they want to buy hurts them, that delivering goods make a country rich, but receiving payment makes it poorer, and that a government picking winners on every market is the best way to ensure competition. You'll certainly see several protectionist policies at the US, what is extremely annoying, because they claim to be a completely open country. But the US is still one of the less protectionist ones.
  - scott_s 11y ago
    By what metric are you claiming the US is less protectionist than most other nations? We have a lot of farm subsidies and tariffs and limitations in imports, and I have never heard any claim that the US somehow does significantly less than other nations.
    - marcosdumay 11y ago

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

MarcusVorenus 11y ago

>Protectionism is how every nation on the planet developed You must be joking. Countries with open markets develop way faster than protectionist countries. If mercantilism is so good then why are the Asian Tigers doing so well and communist countries doing so bad?

scott_s 11y ago
Protectionism is not synonymous with communism. Most capitalistic countries - including the US - practices protectionism in a variety of ways.
biokoda 11y ago
What does communism have to do with anything? Protectionism is exactly how the Asian Tigers developed their economies. You don't have to take it from me, read it from a prominent South Korean economist: http://www.amazon.com/Things-They-Dont-About-Capitalism/dp/1608193381 http://www.amazon.com/Things-They-Dont-About-Capitalism/dp/1...