I was one of the thousand who signed the "Don't be protectionist!" letter sponsored by Club for Growth.
It has been interesting to see the reaction in China. There's this, which is a little icky:
This week in Washington, short-term politics won over long-term economics and basic humanity when the Senate Banking Committee voted in favor of a protectionist bill, joining a long list of bills aimed at China.
There is a race to the bottom among American politicians to determine who will get the honor of leading the lynch mob that blames China for every real or imagined economic ill. These political leaders are competing for short-term political gain at the risk of the global growth that is lifting billions of people out of poverty around the world. Worse still, they know exactly what they are doing.
On Wednesday of this week, 1,028 economists signed a petition to members of Congress, advising them of the immense benefits of free and open trade in goods, services, and capital, and warning them of the grave risk to growth and stability, both in and outside the US, from escalating protectionist measures that could lead to a global trade war.
I actually don't mind that Chinese workers and taxpayers are being asked to subsidize cheap stuff for me to buy. (Can one you guys come over and mow my lawn?) But for China to complain about U.S. protectionism.....wow. Balls, John Rutledge, balls.
There was also this, for example.
Protectionism is a tax on domestic consumers. "Encouraging" exports is subsidy for consumers of trading partners. Neither makes any economic sense. And both hurt growth, over the course of decades.
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