Obama Must Stop Protectionism or See It Spread
Jagdish Bhagwati, Council on Foreign Relations | February 5, 2009
Protectionist measures, like the proposed Buy American provisions in the US stimulus package, will not be taken lightly by other countries. ++ Even if measures followed WTO rules, China and India can retaliate. ++ Americans will "learn history, which they do not study enough at school, by seeing it repeated in their own lifetime." ++ US accusations of Chinese currency manipulation are popular but unfounded. ++ Clinton and G.W. Bush made protectionist mistakes in their first years. ++ In this crisis, Obama cannot afford to repeat this.
