protectionism

There's been a lot of crowing in Washington these past few days. As the US, and the rest of the world, try to navigate through our current financial crisis and recession, governments are increasingly turning to fiscal stimulus packages in attempts to boost domestic economies. 

The idea is simple enough. Fiscal stimulus is basically a fancy way of saying that the government will borrow money, either from its citizens or other countries by issuing bonds, to spend on infrastructure renewal, industrial development, or even tax cuts for corporations and citizens. It's difficult for even the world's best economists to really determine how effective such programs are in the long term but as unemployment continues to rise around the world, policymakers are beginning to wonder whether they have any other options.