The problem with naming and shaming wrongdoers is that, all too often, they turn out to be shameless. That is the problem the World Trade Organisation is encountering in its valiant efforts to prevent an economic drama turning into a protectionist crisis.

The latest of the WTO’s updates on its members’ trade policies makes for unfortunate, if not wildly surprising, reading. New trade-restricting measures outnumber acts of liberalisation by two to one.