Fear and those scoundrels of economic patriotism Several foreign takeovers have been axed recently because of fears about national security and identity - some rational, some not By Harold James Friday, Mar 24, 2006,Page 9 Samuel Johnson called patriotism "the last refuge of a scoundrel." If that is true, what should we think of today's mounting economic nationalism, sometimes euphemistically described as "economic patriotism?" Indeed, economic nationalism is exceptionally vigorous at the moment. Vigorous popular opposition to a Dubai company's plan to take over ports in the US shocked the American government. Poland is witnessing a populist backlash against foreign...