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There is an overwhelming consensus among people who study the subject that protectionism has a negative effect on economic growth and economic welfare [1][2][3]

There is an overwhelming consensus among people who study the subject that protectionism has a negative effect on economic growth and economic welfare [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Even interventionist economists like Paul Krugman strongly agree, and they have tried to explain why free trade is a good thing to an ignorant public. It is shameful that so many people feel obligated to opine strongly on a subject which they don't understand, causing bad policies to be enacted. Protectionism makes society worse off. The policy you are proposing would make the world poorer. [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/26/upshot/economists-actually-agree-on-this-point-the-wisdom-of-free-trade.html https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/26/upshot/economists-actuall... [2] https://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/review/2004/09/01/free-trade-why-are-economists-and-noneconomists-so-far-apart https://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/review/2004/09/... [3] https://www.jstor.org/stable/2117691 https://www.jstor.org/stable/2117691 [4] http://www.igmchicago.org/surveys/free-trade http://www.igmchicago.org/surveys/free-trade [5] http://www.igmchicago.org/surveys/import-duties http://www.igmchicago.org/surveys/import-duties [6] http://www.igmchicago.org/surveys/trade-within-europe http://www.igmchicago.org/surveys/trade-within-europe

coldtea 8y ago
>There is an overwhelming consensus among people who study the subject that protectionism has a negative effect on economic growth and economic welfare Yes, establishment economists all agree on establishment practices are good and want more of them. News at 11. It's not like economics is a science the way physics or chemistry are.
- zeroname 8y ago
  > Yes, establishment economists all agree on establishment practices are good and want more of them. News at 11. It's not the "establishment", economists from all sides disagree over almost everything except for this. That's how you know there's something to it.
  - coldtea 8y ago
    Touting the "free market" is the basis of their being employed. Of course they agree in this, they just disagree on how they go about it.
    - antidesitter 8y ago
      > Touting the "free market" is the basis of their being employed. How so? > Of course they agree in this Agree on what? It sounds like you're grasping at straws here.
- antidesitter 8y ago
  > Yes, establishment [insert field here]s all agree on establishment practices are good and want more of them. News at 11. Can you address what I said with something more substantive? Also, what counts as "establishment"? > It's not like economics is a science the way physics or chemistry are. Of course it's not. Yet this is an issue where you get as close to certainty as you can in any social science.
jerkstate 8y ago
I think everyone agrees that outsourcing work to third world economies creates immense wealth in first world economies. We also know that burning fossil fuels is the cheapest way to make useful heat. That doesn't mean it doesn't have a lot of negative unintended consequences.
- antidesitter 8y ago
  > I think everyone agrees that outsourcing work to third world economies creates immense wealth in first world economies. It also creates wealth in those third world economies. In fact, they benefit the most. > We also know that burning fossil fuels is the cheapest way to make useful heat. That doesn't mean it doesn't have a lot of negative unintended consequences. Can you explain why you think this comparison is relevant?
  - jerkstate 8y ago
    Hollowing out the lower/middle class in those first world economies and forcing people into social welfare programs is a big unintended consequence here.
    - ummonk 8y ago
      Yes, it transfers wealth from the extremely well off (by global standards) first world middle class into building up the third world middle class.
      - jerkstate 8y ago
        To be fair, it almost entirely transfers wealth to the extremely well off by any standards first world upper class, everything else is a rounding error. Outsourcing is colonialism by another name.
        antidesitter 8y ago
        > To be fair, it almost entirely transfers wealth to the extremely well off Wrong. Free trade benefits the poor the most. It is responsible for massive reductions in poverty at the global level, and is critical to the economic growth of developing countries. Trade barriers (particularly in agriculture) are a major source of harm to the world's poor: http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/trade/publication/the-role-of-trade-in-ending-poverty http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/trade/publication/the-role... I encourage you to open your mind on this subject and accept reality rather than hang on to a view that is fundamentally incorrect. > Outsourcing is colonialism by another name. What do you mean by "colonialism"?

coldtea 8y ago

>There is an overwhelming consensus among people who study the subject that protectionism has a negative effect on economic growth and economic welfare Yes, establishment economists all agree on establishment practices are good and want more of them. News at 11. It's not like economics is a science the way physics or chemistry are.

zeroname 8y ago
> Yes, establishment economists all agree on establishment practices are good and want more of them. News at 11. It's not the "establishment", economists from all sides disagree over almost everything except for this. That's how you know there's something to it.
- coldtea 8y ago
  Touting the "free market" is the basis of their being employed. Of course they agree in this, they just disagree on how they go about it.
  - antidesitter 8y ago
    > Touting the "free market" is the basis of their being employed. How so? > Of course they agree in this Agree on what? It sounds like you're grasping at straws here.
antidesitter 8y ago
> Yes, establishment [insert field here]s all agree on establishment practices are good and want more of them. News at 11. Can you address what I said with something more substantive? Also, what counts as "establishment"? > It's not like economics is a science the way physics or chemistry are. Of course it's not. Yet this is an issue where you get as close to certainty as you can in any social science.

jerkstate 8y ago

I think everyone agrees that outsourcing work to third world economies creates immense wealth in first world economies. We also know that burning fossil fuels is the cheapest way to make useful heat. That doesn't mean it doesn't have a lot of negative unintended consequences.

antidesitter 8y ago
> I think everyone agrees that outsourcing work to third world economies creates immense wealth in first world economies. It also creates wealth in those third world economies. In fact, they benefit the most. > We also know that burning fossil fuels is the cheapest way to make useful heat. That doesn't mean it doesn't have a lot of negative unintended consequences. Can you explain why you think this comparison is relevant?
- jerkstate 8y ago
  Hollowing out the lower/middle class in those first world economies and forcing people into social welfare programs is a big unintended consequence here.
  - ummonk 8y ago
    Yes, it transfers wealth from the extremely well off (by global standards) first world middle class into building up the third world middle class.
    - jerkstate 8y ago
      To be fair, it almost entirely transfers wealth to the extremely well off by any standards first world upper class, everything else is a rounding error. Outsourcing is colonialism by another name.
      - antidesitter 8y ago
        > To be fair, it almost entirely transfers wealth to the extremely well off Wrong. Free trade benefits the poor the most. It is responsible for massive reductions in poverty at the global level, and is critical to the economic growth of developing countries. Trade barriers (particularly in agriculture) are a major source of harm to the world's poor: http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/trade/publication/the-role-of-trade-in-ending-poverty http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/trade/publication/the-role... I encourage you to open your mind on this subject and accept reality rather than hang on to a view that is fundamentally incorrect. > Outsourcing is colonialism by another name. What do you mean by "colonialism"?