Review of Peddling Protectionism: Smoot-Hawley and the Great Depression by Douglas A. Irwin

The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics

Tags Business Cycles

08/27/2015David Howden

Free Downloads:

QJAE 18 no. 2 Summer 2015 Howden Review of Peddling Protectionism.pdf

Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics 18, no. 2 (Summer 2105)

The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 could be the best-known piece of Congressional legislation. It also remains among the most controversial; both vilified and embraced by politicians of all stripes to further their cause, whether that be increasingly protectionist trade measures or an expansion of unencumbered free trade. Over the course of four succinct chapters, Dartmouth economics professor Douglas Irwin expertly separates the wheat from the chaff of this oft-misunderstood Act to give life to its evolution, as well as its role in deepening the Great Depression.

Author:

Contact David Howden

Dr. David Howden is Chair of the Department of Business and Economics, and professor of economics, at Saint Louis University at its Madrid campus. A Fellow of the Mises Institute, he is the author of over 50 scholarly articles and books. His research focuses on the business cycle and fractional-reserve banking.