They warned that countries should do their utmost to avoid protectionist policies in response to the global financial crisis.
The members of GATT have generally agreed to replace costly and inefficient protectionist policies with competitive free market systems in global trade.
Aside from briefly quoting Samuelson, he does little to explain why protectionist policies are an appropriate response to underemployment.
But, he warns protectionist policies surfacing in some countries are no solution to these problems.
All of which has raised worries of a return to the "beggar-thy-neighbor" protectionist policies of the 1930s, which helped create the conditions for World War II.
The administration may be moving away from free trade and toward more protectionist policies.
