protectionism – The Politics of Discretion

Featured Politics

Trump’s $12 Billion Solution to a Protectionist Problem of His Making

American citizens have been impressed into a conflict which is not of their choosing. Unilateral power was used to levy tariffs on the imported goods the president has targeted under the guise of some vague national security threat and unilateral power will now be used to mitigate the damage done to domestic producers who inevitably pay the price for economic protectionism. The $12 billion the USDA will offer to farmers affected by the trade war…

capitalism Featured Politics

Trump’s Tariffs Are Economically and Politically Disastrous

Katherine Revello March 2, 2018 economics protectionism tariffs Trump

In an apparent bid to make mercantilism great again, the Trump administration has amped-up its pursuit of protectionist trade measures in recent months, even as others within the president’s own party descry the adverse effects these policies will likely have on the domestic economy. For his part, the president—always a fan of a good superlative—has touted tariffs on the grounds that they facilitate not simply free trade but a more refined type of trade, one…

Philosophy Political Mythos Politics

The Rise of Economics as an Element of National Security: Part 2: Not All Forms of Production Are Created Equal

Katherine Revello June 21, 2017 culture economics national security protectionism

Read Part I: The Inequity Engendered by Protectionism National security, as it has been traditionally understood, defends against war and other forms of destructive treachery posed by hard power. The rise of economic security nominally does the same, though it is the hemorrhaging of money, not blood, which is of concern. Marketplaces become metaphorical battlefields, the size of which is determined by the amount of money and number of transactions involved. The government, when it…