New protectionist policies and their effects on country groups and Turkey

In the world economy, protectionist policies are used especially in times of natural disasters, economic crises, epidemics, and wars. The tendency towards protectionist policies has increased all over the world due to the 2008 global economic crisis and the Covid-19 epidemic that emerged while the effects of this crisis continued. The protectionist policies implemented in this period are called "new protectionism". Because the tools of the policies implemented in this period are new and period-specific tools that were not seen in previous periods, such as murky protectionism, stimulus and bailout packages of states, and incentives for return. In addition, the protectionist policies implemented in this period first started with competitive devaluations and currency wars, then turned into trade wars. As a result, global supply has contracted, global inflation, unemployment and global migration have increased. Due to the Covid-19 epidemic, countries have turned inward in an unprecedented way and have taken restrictive measures to reduce the effects of the epidemic. There is a justification for these measures, such as the idea of protecting human health. However, in order to prevent the epidemic, protectionist measures have been taken and new protectionist policies have been implemented in many countries through additional budgets and funds. In addition, new protectionist policy measures such as export bans and import restrictions were also implemented. As a result, free trade and protectionist policies are not alternatives to each other. The mainstream development in international trade in the world is towards liberalization. Protectionist and new protectionist policies as applied today are temporary and complementary policies applied especially in times of crisis, depending on the economic conjuncture. Especially, the new protectionist policies implemented after the 2008 global crisis decreased the openness rates in countries. Benefits from international division of labour and specialization have decreased, and global value chains have been disrupted. In addition, new protectionist policies affected the capital markets negatively, investments decreased, and foreign debts increased. The functionality of the World Trade Organization has decreased due to new protectionist policies, and conflicts in global trade have increased with the effect of trade wars. The economic and social problems that emerged because of the new protectionist policies implemented after the 2008 global crisis support the idea that free trade based on the principle of division of labour and specialization is for the benefit of all countries.