Protectionism and Free Trade

Economic sanctions, as a general principle, have a history of failure in the 20th and 21st centuries, which penalize everyday citizens in the sanctioned country.

Why is the Trump administration levying tariffs? Are they for tax purposes? Protecting domestic industries? Bargaining chips for international deal making? The administration and its supporters have floated mutually-exclusive reasons for these policies, making the confusion worse.

Why is the Trump administration levying tariffs? Are they for tax purposes? Protecting domestic industries? Bargaining chips for international deal making? The administration and its supporters have floated mutually-exclusive reasons for these policies, making the confusion worse.

Governments at all levels play the same game—always threatening to eliminate school buses, police departments, ambulances, garbage collection—whatever can succeed in bringing the voters or appropriation committee members to their senses and increasing taxes and spending.

Protectionism really isn‘t a theory of betterment for all but a claim that certain people in certain occupations are special. They must be paid more handsomely than the market—meaning you and me—wishes to pay. It will be big business and big labor who will be the beneficiaries of tariffs.

While China has made great strides economically since the days of Mao, nonetheless, there remain a number of weaknesses in the economy. While we should recognize its economic strengths, we should not be tempted to portray China as an economic superpower.

While President Trump rails against US trade deficits, he forgets that they are due to the fact that the US dollar is the world‘s reserve currency. This, in turn, encourages deficit spending and a bloated national debt.

The simple narrative today of the southern secession in 1860 and 1861 is that the southern states believed that the institution of slavery was being threatened, so they left the union. However, the real causes are more complex and do not fit any preconceived narrative.

The Trump White House has enacted tariffs in the belief that other countries are “cheating” by enacting tariffs against US goods and “manipulating” their currencies. However, with the US dollar being the world's reserve currency, the US has engaged in dollar manipulation through inflation.

The Trump administration has pursued a high tariff policy, reversing the movement to lower trade barriers around the world. The justification for this policy is the presence of trade deficits with other nations. However, what if  US trade deficits don't matter?