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I'm always fascinated by all the economists who write articles detailing the cost of protectionism to the American economy but I've never seen an article discus
by tynpeddler 8y ago
I'm always fascinated by all the economists who write articles detailing the cost of protectionism to the American economy but I've never seen an article discussing how much Chinese economic policy costs them. Maybe I'm reading the wrong journals.
- jordonwii 8y agoThis is an interesting point. I wonder if there's enough public data to figure that out. I have heard that some forms of Chinese protectionism are a little more subtle: apparently, the government requires foreign companies manufacturing in China to buy batteries from the domestic Chinese battery industry. Only Chinese companies can buy from the (better, cheaper) foreign companies. I don't remember where I read this though.
- RobertoG 8y agoProtectionism is only bad when you have the upper hand. The way to develop a powerful industry is protectionism. When you have achieved it, the way to avoid others develop powerful industries is free trade. It was not by way of free trade that the USA, Germany or Japan developed.
- pzone 8y agoThe costs of protectionism are typically diffuse and difficult to pinpoint. They take the form of higher prices and reduced choice. Here's one example. Chinese consumers use Alibaba, not Amazon. They use QQ, not Twitter. They use Baidu, not Google. In all of those cases, the foreign brands are higher quality products.