A crisis of protectionism will escalate the economic crisis.

Protectionism has a track record of harming economies. It is harmful to those that implement protectionism and those that are targets of protectionism. It is contrary to the beneficial lessons of the past decades. It is the ideology of failed regimes such as North Korea and former Eastern Block countries. Protectionism exacerbates a downward spiral, yet western governments and others are raising barriers and protectionist rhetoric is increasing. This is bad for us all.

The Collapse of Global Trade, Murky Protectionism, and the Crisis: Recommendations for the G20 (pdf) brings together scholars and practitioners to diagnose the current crisis and offer recommendations.

Read Murky Protectionism Threatens Global Economic Recovery for a synopsis of the paper above.