Sweden, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Slovenia and Korea, for example, used these tools to manage their banking crises, often with a focus on loans backed by real estate. There is one common feature in this type of AMC: state support. By putting capital and funding guarantees at stake, governments can signal their commitment to the structural reforms and bring forward the related benefits.
However, backsliding into protectionism, as has been called for by some, would be like traveling back in time. There is no other way to reap the potential gains from globalization but to evolve towards further specialization, innovation and diversification into new areas of comparative advantage.