Re: O proteccionismo de Pat Buchanan

Na verdade, é igual ao de Bush...

Contra o proteccionismo, temos o bom Bastiat e a sua sátira sobre a Balança Comercial (adequada a todos os economistas pela estatística nacional):

"A French merchant shipped $50,000 worth of goods to New Orleans and sold them for a profit of $17,000. He invested the entire $67,000 in United States cotton and brought it back to France. Thus the customshouse record showed that the French nation had imported more than it exported -- an unfavorable balance of trade. Very bad."

"At a later date, the merchant decided to repeat that personally profitable transaction. But just outside the harbor, his ship was sunk by a storm. Thus the customhouse record showed that the French nation had exported more products than it had imported -- a favorable balance of trade. Very good. And in addition, more jobs were thereby created for the shipbuilders."

"But since storms at sea are undpendable, perhaps the safest government policy would be to record the exports at the customhouse and then throw the goods into the ocean. In that way, the nation could guarantee to itself the profit that results from a favorable balance of trade."

--Complete Works of Bastiat, vol. 5, pp. 363-368.