the.com/protectionism
Economic self-care that makes everyone poorer together instead of richer alone.
means The policy of shielding domestic industries from foreign competition through tariffs, quotas, and trade restrictions.
from Built from 'protect' (Latin protegere, 'to cover in front,' from tegere, 'to cover') plus the suffix '-ism,' marking it as a doctrine or system rather than just an act. The economic sense sharpened in the 1800s as nations argued over tariffs — 'protection' being the industries' preferred word for shielding themselves from cheaper imports, with '-ism' added by critics and advocates alike once it hardened into a full-blown policy creed.
- origin era
- Rose with nation-states in the 1600s mercantilism
- classic tool
- Tariffs tax your own citizens, not foreigners
- smoot-hawley
- 1930 tariffs deepened the Great Depression worldwide
- the irony
- Protects loud, visible jobs by killing quiet, invisible ones