With Davos happening in the middle of global stimulus plans being debated/rolled out, it's understandable that everyone and their mother is talking about moving forward. Politicians from around the world who have implemented and continue to support protectionist plans are suddenly up in arms about the US plan that asks for some protectionist measures. People want open markets. Got it. I also live in this world so see plenty of protectionism, everywhere. Some might even argue that the constant bashing of Microsoft around the world by governments is a form of protectionism, but pick any country (who is making a fuss about protectionism) and it doesn't take long to roll out a number of real life examples of protectionism.
I also get what the Dallas Fed President Fisher is saying about protectionism being addictive but really, this is so overblown as it stands today. Maybe Fisher wants to get excited about a problem that doesn't yet exist (and ignore everyone else) but I really wish people like Fisher would have been as adamant about the high times of easy credit that brought us here in the first place. Some did see this problem happening and they were dismissed as too gloomy. Call me when these people start addressing the problems they helped create and then I might give a damn.
Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher warned on Monday against "Buy America" provisions in a proposed fiscal stimulus law and said it could lead to devastating trade protectionism.
"Let me just be blunt. Protectionism is the crack cocaine of economics. It may provide a high. It's addictive and it leads to economic death," Fisher told C-Span television in an interview for its "Washington Journal" program.
President Barack Obama seeks a $825 billion stimulus plan to end the country's yearlong recession. U.S. lawmakers are debating rules that will insist that public money is spent on U.S-made products, although the White House has already said it will review any Buy America provisions.
