WTO Director: Protectionists are “Shooting their own Foot”

Kevin Binversie / March 03, 2009

As the world continues to deal with the global economic downturn, Pascal Lamy, the Director-General of the World Trade Organization, publicly urged all nations to overcome protectionist instincts as they work to return growth to their national economies.

Lamy made his remarks while speaking to the Lowy Institute for International Policy, Australian think tank.

Director-General Pascal Lamy said protectionist instincts are completely understandable in the current economic climate but that such regulations would be equivalent to “shooting their own foot.”

“People want to protect their jobs, they want to protect their pensions, or their money in the markets,” Lamy said in a speech at the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Sydney. “But smart protectionism is a total oxymoron. It doesn’t work.”

The only answer to the economic crisis, Lamy said, is to stimulate trade and spending. (more…)