Protectionism is not the answer

Italian and Portuguese workers are employed in the Lindsey oil refinery in the English county of Lincolnshire, which has prompted strikes calling for "British jobs for British workers". A commentary in the Sunday newspaper The Observer defends the concept of free trade: "Britain has been wide open to foreign investment and relaxed about foreign ownership of industrial assets. That approach created jobs and attracted capital as the global economy expanded. In a global retrenchment, it makes us vulnerable to capital flight and unemployment. Globalisation was the driving force behind the boom. It is bound to come under attack in the bust. ... No wonder, then, that Gordon Brown last week warned fellow leaders in Davos of the perils of protectionism. A mass closure of liberal markets would see prosperity drain out of Britain faster than any other developed country. Mr Brown is also right that global recovery will come sooner if countries continue to trade freely. Tariff barriers in the 1930s aggravated the Great Depression, forced nations into isolation and helped nurture fascism and Soviet communism."

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