That did it! As a rock-solid free trader I've always hoped that the post-World War II trend toward unfettered global competition would continue. But the collapse in the mid-September World Trade Organization trade talks in Cancun was devastating. So was the G-7 finance ministers' attempt a week later to pressure Japan and China into strengthening their currencies. The world is adopting ruinous protectionism, and fast. Even Washington has joined the perverse parade despite George W. Bush's initial support of free trade and a strong dollar, the same as Bill Clinton. It was easier for Clinton. In the 1990s leaping imports helped keep a price lid on the boiling economic pot. And domestic producers enjoyed so much demand that they weren't too concerned about imports.
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