Medieval economics revisited: protectionism grew out of mercantile economics 500 years ago. Although long discredited, ailing industries in the US and Europe are often rescued by mercantilism.(EBF HISTORY LESSON) From: European Business Forum | Date: September 22, 2004| Author: Witzel, Morgen | COPYRIGHT 2004 Caspian Publishing Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.Copyright information

Economic theories, like economies themselves, tend to run in cycles, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the arguments about free trade and protectionism. Today, with free trade firmly established as orthodoxy among economists, policy makers and business leaders, it seems hard to understand why protectionism ever seemed a good idea in the first place. But economic ideas, like most ideas, are products of their time and place. To understand why protectionism emerged--and why it...