Molson Hart

You think the protectionism was necessary? 1. Highly educated, smart, entrepreneurial people 2. Great infrastructure 3. Economically competent government 4. Demographic dividend 5. Proximity to manufacturing powerhouses like sk and japan

I would not conclude that from one graph. But i think it's worth investigating. Much of what you describe applies to countries where the middle class eroded (west) or didnt quite emerge to the same extent (india).

This is nothing but a conjencture but i suspect some protectionism (tariffs, very mild autarky) could be a viable alternative to high levels of taxation to keep society intact. Not so much to replace government revenues but to make it easier to make it on your own.

Interesting idea.

Let me try to synthetize the idea. 1 there is a tradeoff between redistribution via taxes and inequality (helps) and productivity (hurts). 2 i propose the same is true for tariffs. 3 w/o global governance the world seem to default to protectionism anyway. 4 accept as lesser evil.