"Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism" [audio 71min]

George Kenney, who blogs at Electric Politics, says protectionism can be a good thing. He adds that protectionism, in fact, is the only way that a developing country can become developed and the only way an industrial country like the U.S. can retain its industrial base and high standard of living in the face of wage arbitrage by large corporations that offshore their operations. Praising the argument of Ha-Joon Chang, Kenney says,"A rational high culture results from industrialization (and not the opposite, as is often wrongly — and racially — assumed) then logically the kind of de-industrialization we're experiencing in the U.S. should corrupt our culture." And that is exactly what Kenney thinks is happening:"Even by design nothing could better suit the vulture capitalist class and their lackeys." He says that, for the ammunition you'll need to defeat what he calls neo-liberal "free trade" arguments, you should read Ha-Joon's book, Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism.