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Article: The new mercantilism.
- Article from:
- The Public Interest
- Article date:
- June 22, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 The National Affairs, Inc. 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. (Hide copyright information)
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IN ONE OF HIS many insightful observations, John Maynard Keynes noted that "practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist." He noted further that the power of ideas can be immense "both when they are right and when they are wrong," concluding that "it is ideas, not vested interests, which are dangerous for good or evil."
One of these currently captivating ideas is that aggressive government actions--including "strategic trade policy," "industrial policy," and "technology policy"--will bring about increased American "competitiveness" overseas. It can be argued that Keynes' ...