Oct 21, 2009

Rodrik on rising protectionism

While Dani Rodrik has been silent on his blog, he is still producing commentaries on Project Syndicate. Here there is his last sceptical view on the argument made by many scholars that Protectionism is on the rise because of the crisis. While questioning the numbers per se (does anyone know of a comparison between pre-crisis and post crisis protectionist measures??), the further point he raises, is that the difference between the Great Depression and today's crisis, is the presence of safety nets in modern economies. These, in his views, have succesfully reduced the workers' demand for protection by means of tariffs.

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