
UNIGE researchers demonstrate that far from protecting Americans from international competition, the protectionism put in place by President Donald Trump increases unemployment. The protectionist policy of US President Donald Trump is criticized on all sides around the world, but seems to suit the Americans, who see this economic model as protecting their interests. Could they be wrong? A study by researchers of the University of Geneva (UNIGE) quantifies the effects of Donald Trump's protectionist policies on unemployment and welfare in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Their results, published in the Journal of the European Economic Association , show that such policies would have a negative impact on welfare and employment in both Mexico and the United States. While the U.S. administration has been openly implementing protectionist trade policies ever since Donald Trump became president, economists are striving to analyze the effects of such a stark policy reversal. Yet, almost no trade models that economists use to quantify the effects of such trade policy changes include unemployment as an important margin of adjustment. "The unemployment rate is nevertheless an important indicator of a country's economic health", notes Céline Carrère, a professor at the Geneva School of Economics and Management (GSEM) of the UNIGE.
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