The international political stage has been shaken in the past few month by populist claims for protectionism. This theme has encountered substantial success, most visibly in the USA. It is but an illusion with the progress towards the Collaborative Age. And these claims won’t stand for long in particular if protectionism is really implemented.
I know of a live example in Malaysia in the automotive industry. The country has tried to develop an indigenous car maker, Proton and implemented substantial barriers to the import of foreign-made cars. Within a decade, Proton cars were substandard and lagging the modern progress of technology. Once another manufacturer setup to build locally modern cars, the local manufacturer crumbled.
This was because an industry in a protected environment will have no incentive to improve and invest, and will eventually collapse while the rest of the world progresses. Protectionism can only possibly work on a temporary basis to develop some new capability.
In today’s ever faster world, protectionism is an illusion. Those experiments that are attempted will soon enough demonstrate the inadequacy of the concept. That does not mean policies should not address those affected by the transformation of the economy. But maintaining illusory protections will create eventually a worst fate, only later.
The Protectionism Illusion won’t last long.
