Spirit of Protectionism Picking Up Steam

As I mentioned a couple days ago, I'm fearful that the U.S. economy is headed towards protectionism. In another sign that the protectionist fervor is becoming popular again, Check Point Software, a public firm traded on Nasdaq but headquartered in Israel, called off its plans to acquire Sourcefire, a network security company with government clients.

Also, the State Dept. is being criticized for purchasing computers from Lenovo, a public company whose parent company's main shareholder is the Chinese government.

Sensitive deals should rightly be scrutinized by CFIUS, but I'm afraid we're going to be hearing a lot of Pat Buchanan-types who think that every foreign investment is bad for the U.S.