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 Too much protectionism is not good as well as no protectionism, it will ruin the free trade in the world. 

This article looks at the European Commission, an organization that has warned of a slide towards "blatant and uncontrolled protectionism" across the globe as emerging markets from several countries are starting to defend themselves, warning that abuses by countries like Russia, Brazil, Indonesia, China and other key states could pose a growing threat to global recovery. The EU trading body has said "154 new tariffs and restrictive measures have been pushed through over the past year while "virtually none" has been abolished"

This article discusses how sometimes the use of barriers has a negative effect on the economy of a country, for example, as can be seen with Bush's administration that imposed tariffs on steel imports. Trade protection can be seen with the rush of agreements that countries are not willing to partake in, such as Japan. Of course after the Bush administration, the democratic party picked up the "protectionist baton" and have worked toward trade liberalization.

The article talks about tariffs imposed by the US government on the steel market. It shows the other side of protectionism. In the case of the US the tariff impose had a negative effect on the steel market. The tariff robbed more in profits than it gave to steel making companies.

The article refers to criticism on Chinese trade policies made by the US and China facing several cases in the WTO.

This article cites how the Chinese politicians are drawing back on protectionism, one of the intervjued people also added; "Free trade is the engine of national economic growth,", which can be debated in either direction.

The article talks about a policy of the EU relating to the topic.

I totally agree with you, Olaf

This article talks about the new warning Russia has sent to Ukraine saying that moscow could implement protectionist barriers if its former soviet ally joins a free trade pact with the EU. Russia has sent the warning because they are allegedly worried it will be "flooded" with European goods if Ukraine joins the pact.

It states that "it will be a plus, as long as it doesn't make us (Russia) weaker". This is because of the bond they have from the former Soviet union. Since they have conjoined boarders and a lot of trade between the nations they fear that this (increasing european trade) might influence this trade.

The article was initiated by a series of event regarding a man, Mark Shuttleworth that transferred money to the South African Reserve Bank. Through powers granted under exchange controls legislation, the South African Reserve Bank imposed a levy of 10% to the money deposed. A big scandal started around the court cases which brought up several good points for the economy of South Africa. It was stated that controlling currency flows gives smaller economies more stability as well as independence. The free flow of capital would also cause account deterioration, inflation and currency devaluation. It was also mentioned that large institutions in South Africa (like its reserve bank) are not interested in red tape or levies, but some how imposed on on Shuttleworth. In addition, they stated that free trade comes as a cost that comes in a form of lost tax revenues and a loss of jobs in South Africa.