Obama tax move ‘will hurt global recovery’

A LEADING Irish economist has accused US president Barack Obama of protectionism which will, in the long term, not be of benefit to his own country and in the short term will pose a further threat to global economic recovery.

Professor Ray Kinsella of the Smurfit School of Business at UCD said: “It was inevitable that something like this would happen. While jobs for America is understandable from the point of view of what is happening in the US, on a global level where America has a responsibility to provide economic leadership this resonates of protectionism.

“Protectionism has been highlighted by G20 as a threat to global recovery. America has a very specific responsibility to provide global economic leadership, a role which it has assumed.”