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Thread: Populism and Protectionism

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    Populism and Protectionism

    Populism and Protectionism by Pierre Lemieux, an economist at the Department of Management Sciences of the Université du Québec en Outaouai.

    The recent French election illustrated what may look to many like an intriguing fact: the rejection of free trade by both extreme-left and extreme-right populism. ...In practice, there is little difference between Le Pen’s “smart protectionism” and Mélenchon’s “solidary protectionism.”

    Today’s populists oppose free trade even when they don’t stand at the extremes of the political spectrum. In the United States, both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders campaigned for protectionism....

    Authority and “the people” / The Encyclopedia Britannica defines “populism” as a “political program or movement that champions the common person,” noting that it “usually combines elements of the left and the right.” Authoritarian populism is “typically critical of political representation and anything that mediates the relation between the people and their leader or government.”

    A number of reasons account for the marriage between populism and protectionism. First, the common person does not understand how free trade benefits the vast majority of people....

    A second reason why populists naturally favor protectionism is that the common person is more likely to fear foreigners, if only because he travels less and meets fewer strangers....

    The third reason is that populism needs much state power, which free trade undermines....
    According to A perfectly timed book on populism:

    But they differ in all sorts of ways that make a populist front across political or national boundaries difficult. Right-wing populism is typically triadic, portraying the middle classes as squeezed between two outgroups, such as foreigners and welfare “spongers”. Left-wing populism is dyadic—it champions the masses against plutocratic elites or, as with Scottish nationalism, a foreign elite.
    But both populisms appeal to the masses.

    Posted this the other day:



    The source is Individualism: A Reader, eds George H. Smith, Marilyn Moore.

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    Ethereal's Avatar Senior Member
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    Protectionism is a natural outgrowth of populism.

    Populism is generally fueled by feelings of solidarity with your perceived group, and protectionism tends to tighten the economic bonds between you and the other members of your group. In that way, it's a rational response assuming your original populist sentiments are correct.

    I think the big problem with protectionism is that it won't simply admit this and tries to pretend like it's good economics. It doesn't have to be good economics in order to be a good idea. They can simply admit that protectionism WILL drive prices up but that's it's worth the cost to bring Americans closer together. Of course, then they have to reconcile that position with the fact that "Americans" hate one another, so bringing them closer together might not be such a good idea, especially if it entails economic pressure.
    Power always thinks it has a great soul, and vast views, beyond the comprehension of the weak. And that it is doing God service when it is violating all His laws.
    --John Adams

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ethereal View Post
    Protectionism is a natural outgrowth of populism.

    Populism is generally fueled by feelings of solidarity with your perceived group, and protectionism tends to tighten the economic bonds between you and the other members of your group. In that way, it's a rational response assuming your original populist sentiments are correct.

    I think the big problem with protectionism is that it won't simply admit this and tries to pretend like it's good economics. It doesn't have to be good economics in order to be a good idea. They can simply admit that protectionism WILL drive prices up but that's it's worth the cost to bring Americans closer together. Of course, then they have to reconcile that position with the fact that "Americans" hate one another, so bringing them closer together might not be such a good idea, especially if it entails economic pressure.

    I can agree with that. The OP is mostly economic criticism of populism and its attendant protectionism. But solidarity with others has value in itself, just that there's an economic price to pay.

    Americans hate each other! No!! Hell, we're shooting each other. But that has a lot to do with identify politics.

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    Populism is just a strategy- direct your message to the people.
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    Block my shipments, block my websites, exclude me from these truly, no sarcasm intended btw, wonderful free trade agreements and you know what? Trump, 1000x Trump because Trump offers me overall FREER. Riddle that for a bit.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Newpublius View Post
    Block my shipments, block my websites, exclude me from these truly, no sarcasm intended btw, wonderful free trade agreements and you know what? Trump, 1000x Trump because Trump offers me overall FREER. Riddle that for a bit.
    If you're talking about Fixed Trade Agreements like NAFTA, CAFTA, SHAFTA, then there's no riddle, but they're not free.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris View Post
    If you're talking about Fixed Trade Agreements like NAFTA, CAFTA, SHAFTA, then there's no riddle, but they're not free.
    Or WTO, point being the promosed liberalization that doesn't materialize. I'll trade tariffs for income taxes any day to the extent that's practical. From my point of view they're ALL 'tariffs

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    Quote Originally Posted by Newpublius View Post
    Or WTO, point being the promosed liberalization that doesn't materialize. I'll trade tariffs for income taxes any day to the extent that's practical. From my point of view they're ALL 'tariffs
    But trade liberalization wasn't promised, two or more government get together and pick winners and losers. That's not going to go well.

    They're all taxes, on us, income tax, tariffs, etc.

    The advantage of tariffs is you can decide not to buy tariffed products. Say a tariff is placed on steel, you just decide to buy no steel, at all, even from US suppliers. You then don't pay that tax. But how does it help anything? You've been pushed away from purchasing what you value to some product you value less.
    Last edited by Chris; 06-16-2017 at 08:14 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris View Post
    But trade liberalization wasn't promised, two or more government get together and pick winners and losers. That's not going to go well.

    They're all taxes, on us, income tax, tariffs, etc.

    The advantage of tariffs is you can decide not to buy tariffed products. Say a tariff is placed on steel, you just decide to buy no steel, at all, even from US suppliers. You then don't pay that tax. But how does it help anything? You've been pushed away from purchasing what you value to some product you value less.
    That is not the case though, Chris, the agreements don't 'pick winners' they might not ve complete liberalization of course, but I am discussing express covenants that are just out and out violated.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Newpublius View Post
    That is not the case though, Chris, the agreements don't 'pick winners' they might not ve complete liberalization of course, but I am discussing express covenants that are just out and out violated.
    Oh, they most certainly do. A few companies/corporations unite to lobby for protection, who else can afford to lobby the government, you, me, no way. The government then responds by imposing trade restrictions to help those winners. And they are winners, for not only is competition removed, but they are freed to raise their prices. Take the sugar industry, owned by a single family iirc, the were able to lobby the government to prohit sugar imports. And as a result sugar in the US is higher than anywhere else. It's cronyism, and it's corrupt. And you and I and the people lose.

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