March 11, 2004
Today, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan predicted that employment will begin to increase more quickly before long. He also had this to say about protectionism:
"As history clearly shows, our economy is best served by full and vigorous engagement in the global economy," Greenspan said a day after Bush inveighed against any effort to restrict access to U.S. markets by saying it might hurt U.S. exporters.
Any guesses as to who Mr. Greenspan was referring to regarding "new protectionist measures?"
Greenspan noted "new protectionist measures" were being proposed, without specifying what he was referring to, and said they could be self-defeating.
"These alleged cures could make make matters worse rather than better," he said. "They would do little to create jobs and if foreigners were to retaliate, we would surely lose jobs."
If you haven't figured out why protectionism is a bad policy, you might start by reading this. Then perhaps this.
