Tariffs: here we go again. We understand that Mr Donald Trump may have his own reasons for imposing them. As the ruler of a proud and independent nation he has the right to do so. But, for the moment, we still have the right to comment on his action. Which we did in two blogs (LSS 19 5 20, 12 11 24) Being of a historical turn of mind we drew parallels with the famous Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930. Which in the view of most economists and historians not only deepened the gathering recession, but also lead more or less directly to World War Two.
In such circumstances it is questionable whether it is “nice” to find that minds far better educated and profound than ours agree with our insights. For today The Conversation publishes an article by Thomas Giffe and Micheal Pouffle which agrees with us in almost every detail [1] In fact it does the whole job rather better; and you must read it, gentle reader.
Because the article brings out the key psychological reasons for the decisions. And psychological they are, not economic. Here are three killer quotes from Trumps most earnest supporters
Congresswoman Claudia Tenney of New York told Fox News that she’s glad the US is “projecting strength for once on the world stage”. Senator Eric Schmitt of Missouri insisted that tariffs were “not a surprise,” emphasising that Trump had relentlessly campaigned on “improving our standing in the world.”
former adviser and populist nationalist Steve Bannon warned that America would no longer be “abused” by “unbalanced trade deals.” “Yes, tariffs are coming,” he said. “You will have to pay to have access to the US market. ………… the free market is over.”
Now these are proud and intelligent people. But their priorities lie in fields other than economics. They may be right. They may not. But we do remember a passage from our Gibbon about the declining years of the Empire. Wherein a particularly tyrannous but insecure Emperor, having arranged the murder of his best general. asked an ordinary Roman Citizen for his opinion of the deed:
“I am ignorant, sir, of your motives and intentions” replied the honest man “I only know you have acted like a man who cuts off his right arm with his left”
[1]https://theconversation.com/the-us-tried-high-tariffs-and-america-first-policies-in-the-1930s-trump-should-note-what-happened-next-249079?utm_medium=email&utm_campaig
#smoot hawley #tariff #trade war #world war #USA #China #economics
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