Business

Saturday March 7, 2009

Is Buy Malaysia a form of protectionism?


It is natural to want to blame the United States for all the bad economic news. But it is also very natural to want to protect one’s own economy.

For example, the Prime Minister of Malaysia recently launched a “Buy Malaysia” campaign. Yet no one has spoken out against this type of protectionism and when the US does it we hear tons of criticism.

I say it is time we buy USA. It makes sense because it is the main economic engine of the world.

The old saying: if the US sneezes, the world catches a cold. We need to make sure that the US does not sneeze.

It is popular everywhere not to buy USA, for whatever the reason – Palestine, Iraq and so on. In a way, we are paying for that boycott.

The US buys from all countries in this area. Most of the time it is a one-sided balance of trade, ie. they buy from us but we don’t buy from them.

– TL Tan

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