Economic nationalism (also called "national system of political economy") is a term used to describe policies which are guided by the idea of protecting domestic consumption, labor and capital formation, even if this requires the imposition of tariffs and other restrictions on the movement of labour, goods and capital. It is in opposition to globalization in many cases, or at least it questions the perceived benefits of unrestricted free trade. Economic nationalism may include such doctrines as protectionism and import substitution.

Examples of economic nationalism include American System (economic system), Japan's use of MITI to "pick winners and losers", Malaysia's imposition of currency controls in the wake of the 1997 currency crisis, China's controlled exchange of the yuan, Argentina's economic policy of tariffs and devaluation in the wake of the 2001 financial crisis and the United States' use of tariffs to protect domestic steel production.

Mergers and Acquisitions

The term gained a more specific meaning in 2005 and 2006 after several governments intervened to prevent takeovers of domestic firms by foreign companies. In some cases, the national governments also endorsed counter-bids from compatriot companies to create 'national champions'. Such cases include:

• The proposed takeover of Arcelor (Luxembourg) by Mittal (India).
• The failed attempt by the Italian government to prevent the takeover of Banca Antonveneta (Italy) by ABN AMRO (Netherlands).
• The French government listing of Danone (France) as a 'strategic industry' to pre-empt a potential takeover bid by PepsiCo (USA).
• The proposed takeover of Endesa (Spain) by E.ON (Germany), and the counter-bid by Gas Natural (Spain).
• The proposed takeover of SUEZ (France) by Enel (Italy), and the counter-bid by Gaz de France (France).
• The congressional opposition to the takeover bid for Unocal (USA) by CNOOC (PR China), and the subsequent takeover by Chevron (USA).

See also

• Mercantilism
• Producerism

Economic theories | Economic ideologies | History of economic thought | International trade | Nationalism | Political economy