----- Original Message ----- From: "Rakesh Bhandari" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, March 11, 2002 11:47 AM Subject: [PEN-L:23830] protectionism
> Jim D wrote: > > It's interesting that a foreign-trade&finance expert like PK never mentions > that a lot of the steel industry's problems recently have been due to the > steep appreciation of the dollar (relative to its biggest trading partners) > since 1995. > ______ > Yet this raises the question: if the high dollar has cost jobs, > should protectionism be adopted? I wonder whether Jim agrees with > Krugman's criticism of protectionism? ==================== Ah, 'reverse' the necker cube, Rakesh; the high dollar, as it partially contributes to the maintenance of the reserve army of the unemployed, is an unwitting kind of protectionism for capital........It is also a sticking point among the various factions of capital as it disciplines exporters who are also exposed to 'foreign' competition to work even harder to lower unit labor costs and unit capital costs.... Ian
