Economic Nationalism & Trade Conference

On February 8, 2019, The Risk Institute, Moritz College of Law, Fisher College of Business and the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences examine — through an interdisciplinary lens — the legal, business and economic consequences of U.S. trade policy.

“Trade policy is an important and complex issue requiring understanding and solutions made through collaborative sharing of the information and ideas from multiple areas of specialized knowledge,” said The Risk Institute Executive Director Phil Renaud. “Interdisciplinarity is one of our hallmarks of our academic efforts at Ohio State, and it is fitting that three of our colleges would co-sponsor this conference.”

The day was broken up into three distinct sections, each focusing on different aspect of economic nationalism: law, economics and business.

Daniel C.K. Chow, Frank E. and Virginia H. Bazler Chair in Business Law at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law argued that as practiced by the US and China, the two main proponents of economic nationalism in the modern global economy, the term refers to the “adoption of national policies that promote exports while at the same time creating barriers to imports.”

Many of the panelists agreed that tariffs as a trade policy are simply blunt instruments, but the implications and instrumentation of that instrument have tangible political and economic consequences. For example, farmers in China are able to get into global manufacturing and that’s a big job compared to low skill workers in Ohio. An obvious solution then is to reduce the number of low-skill workers in highly developed countries.

The Economic Nationalism and Trade Conference raised as many questions as it was positioned to answer especially surrounding hot-button issues: redistribution of wealth, globalization, economic and actual mobility. The Colleges were very pleased to bring together three connected disciplines – economics, business and law – to discuss about international trade, an issue that affects everyone in our nation and beyond. By sharing perspectives, we broaden our common understanding, and aim to improve the well-being of our state, regional, national and global communities.

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