Barack Obama has stated that the present economic models are preferable to protectionism because protectionism is "beggar your neighbour" policy.
I wonder how he can imagine that the present globalization and free market policies have not beggared our neighbours when you recall that about 2 billion people now live on less that two dollars a day and that was before the present economic chaos.
There is a number of ways against which global society needs protection:
• unemployment and underemployment
• low wages
• poor health conditions
• polluting contamination
• loss of land
• degradation of fertile land
• loss of traditional farming
• loss of or loss of control of mineral resources
• loss of human and economic rights
• loss of sovereignty and decision-making
• loss of freedom
• loss of languages and cultures
• loss of common goods, e.g., water
• loss of educated people moving to the First World
Only localization and empowerment of grassroots organizations can restore some sanity to our global systems. Re-establishing the old systems with tax-payer largesse will not stop the "beggaring our neighbour" process.