> How am I supposed to explain to you that protectionist policies benefit a small minority of workers at the expense of almost everybody else? Given that none

> How am I supposed to explain to you that protectionist policies benefit a small minority of workers at the expense of almost everybody else? Given that none of the most successful economies developed without protectionism [1,2], you'll have a difficult time explaining that indeed. That pesky reality, always getting in the way of "good Freshman-level Economics textbooks". [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_advantage#Criticism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_advantage#Criticis... [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20320483 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20320483