Amongst the several alarms triggered by the global economic crisis, the one alerting to a possible global return to protectionism sounded particularly loudly. As the crisis spread geographically and affected more economic sectors, fears that domestic pressures for protectionism would not be resisted gained intensity. There have been a number of indications that trade protectionism has indeed increased during the course of the now-receding crisis. Available empirical evidence focuses largely on the impact of the crisis on merchandise trade, and, to some degree, on foreign investment.