> consuming value to force your people to create less value
That's the "spherical cow on a frictionless plane in a vacuum" of economics.
Protectionism is probably a good idea when the competitor is temporarily subsidizing various industries to build a permanent comparative advantage that can then be abused, either by being an effective monopoly, or by shaping your enemies to be logistically unprepared for war.
Re:How to Build 300k Airplanes in Five Years
by ahmeneeroe-v2 on Friday May 24, 2024 @01:01PM
(#40468122)
Exactly right and love how you phrased it. War is also one of those areas where the concept of economic value falls apart.
I do totally agree with dragonwriter that it is vulnerable to corruption
Re:How to Build 300k Airplanes in Five Years
by speleding on Saturday May 25, 2024 @12:42PM
(#40476145)
Protectionism does almost nothing to prevent that comparative advantage from being built unless all other consuming countries in the market also add a tariff. And most of them will not. Using the WTO to coordinate a response is a much more fruitful way in such a situation (but the WTO has been neutered by Trump).
There may be very specific cases where very carefully tailored uses of it are good for certain long-term interests or risk mitigation, but mostly it is waste — and extremely subject to corruption from those invested in inefficient industries.