Our post earlier tonight about Google shutting down Facebook's access to Gmail data exports makes me think two things. First, I'm not sure there's much data that Facebook doesn't already have with its 600 million users (although 1.3 billion people visit Google sites a week, so they're not exactly slumming). And second, the data protectionist era has now begun in earnest. Trade restrictions, tariffs, etc., called protectionism, is always a double edged sword. It has the short term benefit of helping domestic companies stay competitive and profitable, and that also protects jobs. On the downside the consumer is hit with higher prices on whatever industry is being protected. And protected industries tend to lag behind competitively, so when/if the restrictions are lifted they are in a very bad situation. But here's the very worst part of protectionism. If you start it, you can expect the other side to start it to. That's when you get what's called a trade war, and lots of potential economic gain evaporates.
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