Dark times are coming

Aparentemente las cosas seguirán complicadas: salimos del infierno mesiánico de Bush para meternos en el neo proteccionismo de los demócratas...

US Democrats won´t push free trade

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More interesting to think about is what a Democrat president would do in economic policy and the effect on the global economy. While Democrats surely would try to heal some of the diplomatic rifts between the US and much of the world, there are understandable concerns about what they would do for the global economy.

The party has shifted in a distinctly protectionist direction since it last held the White House. Union backers have succeeded in forcing Democrats to focus on the losses from globalisation rather than the gains.

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Here the news is discouraging. No one in the front ranks of the Democratic Party today is willing to confront the rising tide of anti-market sentiment. John Edwards is running a nakedly populist campaign. When it was announced in April that Toyota had overtaken General Motors in car and lorry sales, Mr Edwards denounced the Japanese company's success and suggested it was all to do with unfair trade practices.

Illinois senator Barack Obama, for all his talk of a ''new politics'', has been reluctant to take on the protectionist wing of his party. On his one big economics vote in his short Senate career, he voted against the Central American Free Trade Agreement.

Even Hillary Clinton, the wife of the aforementioned market-supporting president, has made clear that she departs from her husband's approach in his area. She has been one of the leading critics in the past few years of China's so-called manipulation of its currency.