Protectionism (NP)

Episode number 2 of Series “The Global Economy”.
One of the most debated issues for economists is the value of protectionist policies in maintaining and developing national industries. This second episode of the Open Learning economics course examines the pros and cons of protectionism by examining the conflict over trade restrictions placed on sales of US grain to European Community markets. It includes interviews with US business people and with representatives of the French farmers who violently oppossed any easing of European trade restrictions. The second part of the episode explores the various other forms protectionism takes apart from explicit import quotas and taxes. It examines the history of the Voluntary Export Restraint agreement between Japan and the United States which was co-signed in 1981. The agreement offered some protection to an American automobile industry struggling to survive the effects of exploding petroleum prices in the 1970’s. The example delineates the conflict between economic theories which identify people primarily as consumers and those which identify people as labour.