An introduction to the revolutionary new, quick-to-grasp 100 page book
So why do these parent MNCs continue financing the campaigns of protectionist politicians who clearly threaten their very survival?
History’s Unlearned Lessons
In addition to one particular MNC being threatened, on a broader, political scale, the danger is that the resulting protectionist wave will be felt in hostile international relations and thus in more terrorism. It was just this protectionist fervour that radicalized the non-democratic capitalist powers, Japan and Germany, in the 1930s. There are parallels today in the “authoritarian capitalist states” of China and Russia. Already, protectionist sentiment is rising yet again in America, especially among the poorly educated workforce. With protectionist politicians threatening the overseas operations of their own MNCs, prosperity has to decline in the host countries. Less prosperity means more fertile ground for terrorists. This is the shape of things to come.
Wake Up Call for Capitol Hill
With election momentum mounting, now is the time for decision-makers particularly in Washington and in Brussels , to wake up and realise the perils of allowing protectionist politicians once again to brainwash voters with their barrage of trade myths – yes myths – about what drives America’s and Europe’s economies. In this book I offer an iconoclastic view: questioning these major fables and showing how insidiously irrelevant they have become in today’s globalized world.
Here are the myths that protectionist politicians would have you believe:
Myth One: Imports kill jobs
Myth Two: Exchange rates drive trade
Myth Three: Trade balance is a national matter
Myth Four: America’s trade “deficit” is “bad”
Myth Five: Foreigners finance America
Like mantras, these have been repeated so often over the centuries that they have acquired the ring of truth, but nothing could be more dishonest and dangerous.
Why Perpetuate These Myths?
Politicians peddle and perpetuate these myths because they attract votes – like light bulbs attract flies. Each insidious myth taps into voters’ fears about their job security. So, the protectionist politician “promise” to “protect’ jobs by banning “unfair imports” gets Pavlovian responses, particularly of the poorly-educated: they vote for him/her.
