That should have been the headline of the WSJ article featuring former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's warning about rising protectionism in the United States. The United States already has substantial protectionist barriers that are designed to maintain the incomes of highly educated professionals like doctors and lawyers. Blair is apparently unconcerned about these forms of protectionism. He only seems to be concerned about the erection of barriers that may protect less highly paid workers, like those in manufacturing. There is no economic theory that shows that protectionist barriers in professional services impose lower economic costs than protectionist barriers in manufactured goods. Therefore, Mr. Blair was presumably demonstrating his ignorance of economics and/or his class biased approach to public policy. The article should have pointed this fact out to readers.
--Dean Baker
