President Trump has declared today “Liberation Day,” because many of his tariffs come into force. His team is taking a gamble that either the law of supply and demand does not apply to trade or that the American public will be uncharacteristically fine with higher prices.
Richard Cobden was a British champion of laissez-faire who served in Parliament. While there, he led to successful campaign to repeal the Corn Laws, which led to British free trade.
Bob responds to flawed arguments about trade deficits.
President Andrew Johnson, who is best known for being the first president to be impeached, vetoed protectionist legislation that looked to raise tariffs on imported copper. Congress overrode his veto, but his free-trade message is just as relevant today as it was in 1869.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville recently claimed that Trump‘s tariffs will improve the economy, but only after a period of painful adjustment. “No pain, no gain,” he said. The truth is that the tariffs will inflict pain without any net gains.
For all the political rhetoric about building “affordable housing,” the reality is housing prices will only go up, and tariffs will contribute to the increase.
This week in Friday Philosophy, David Gordon reviews The Tariff Superstition: Why Protectionism Always Fails and Who Really Pays the Price by Marcel Kedosa, who levies devastating arguments against protective tariffs, sometimes using the same arguments used by Murray Rothbard.
The media today is fixated on presenting the economic and emotional cases for and against tariffs. As a result, politicians are free to spew their propaganda and the people become roadkill.
President Trump has promised “billions and billions” of dollars in new revenue from his tariffs not to mention economic rejuvenation. The odds are not in his favor, to put it mildly.
We should not look just at the visible and obvious results of tariffs. We must also look at the good things that the tariffs keep from happening.
