Beyond protectionism

Protectionist forces are growing in many industrial countries, and will be a significant factor in world trade in the early 1980s. However, an important counterforce is at work—the changing population distribution, and particularly age structure, of the industrial countries. The decrease in the number of 16–24-year olds available to enter the labour force, together with the increase in postsecondary education, suggest that there will be a dearth of semiskilled workers starting in the 1980s. A longer-term perspective may lead to policies which mitigate the protectionist threat.