It feels like .... 2005?

This chart, from the Financial Times, on how far, and how fast, international trade has decreased says it all

The reason?

explanation based on outsourcing: that manufactured goods comprise a bigger proportion of trade today than in the 1930s, when basic commodities had a larger share. Commerce in manufactured goods is more volatile and subject to shifts in demand than commodities, and trade in turn becomes more variable.

“The big shift in manufacturing from northern to southern countries over the past few decades ensures that falls in consumer demand in the north now show up in trade,” says Prof O’Rourke.

Either way, the implication of these explanations for the future of globalisation is moderately encouraging. If a simple fall in demand got trade into its current state, then – absent a flood of protectionist policies – a recovery in demand is likely to get it out.

So, against this background comes Obama's plan to impose tariffs on tires from China. Over to Brad DeLong--not a Republican by any means--who summarizes his response in the title of his post itself:

Barack Obama Does Something Really Stupid: Tire Tariffs