Mason reminds us we don't need to just worry about the bogeyman of protectionism (though it is a real bogeyman).
"The world economy incidentally has a head start on the protectionists: global exports have slumped - by an average 40% annualised rate in the developed world. This is not caused by "protectionism": it is caused by the fragility of globalisation, which I interpret not as a "threat to globalisation" but a flaw within it. Multi-country supply chains and the end of vertical integration, both features of the last 20 years, have caused the export-supply economy to react like a tortoise in fear. Each economy has withdrawn to its shell once credit began to dry up."
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