Has anyone mentioned protectionism yet?
Although the context of protectionism in 1929 was a lot different to the "free trade" ideals of today.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_trade
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_trade
I posted on another thread about the US government making it illegal for its citizens to own gold from around this period.
Talk about protection, this was to protect the US dollar as it was pegged in those days to the gold standard.
Cheers
