Douglas Irwin

On cue . .

Some great lines from @davidfrum.bsky.social

"There is no socialist way to create wealth. There is only a socialist way to spend wealth."
"While Trump’s behavior discredits markets, his rhetoric vilifies markets."
& more . . .
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

US tariffs: Lesotho declares state of disaster amid US tariff uncertainty Lesotho faces tariffs of 50% - higher than any other country because of its large trade surplus with the US.

Heartbreaking to the extent that US tariff policy contributed to this . . . www.bbc.com/news/article...

Watch the AHA’s Congressional Briefing on the history of tariffs on C-SPAN. Panelists @douglasirwin.bsky.social, @sharonannmurphy.bsky.social, & @rauchway.bsky.social discussed how the government has implemented tariffs in the past & how they have impacted the economy. 🗃️

I moderated a Congressional Briefing last week on the history of tariffs, with terrific panelists @douglasirwin.bsky.social, @sharonannmurphy.bsky.social, & @rauchway.bsky.social. It will air on C-SPAN today (6/21) at 3:10 PM ET, and will be available to watch online on C-SPAN's website. 🗃️

AHA Congressional Briefing: History of Tariffs – AHA The American Historical Association (AHA) will host a Congressional Briefing offering historical perspectives on tariffs. The briefing will take place on Wednesday, June 11, at 9:00 a.m. ET in Rayburn...

Tomorrow, on 6/11, the AHA will host a Congressional Briefing offering historical perspectives on tariffs. Panelists @douglasirwin.bsky.social, @sharonannmurphy.bsky.social, & @rauchway.bsky.social will discuss how the govt. has implemented tariffs in the past, & how they have impacted the economy.🗃️

The standard errors of persistence Many studies of historical persistence find that modern outcomes strongly reflect characteristics of the same places in the distant past. However they…

This one seems pretty important . . . goes after a slew of them
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Greg Mankiw in the WSJ on whether economics is a science

Attention Capitol Hill staffers:

The ancients were onto something....

Speaking Wednesday w/Madison Cmte on Foreign Relations #econsky
econbrowser.com/archives/202...

Declining trade volume is a goal, a feature not a bug

Clashing Over Commerce: A History of US Trade Policy (Markets and Governments in Economic History) Clashing Over Commerce: A History of US Trade Policy (Markets and Governments in Economic History) - Kindle edition by Irwin, Douglas A.. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Clashing Over Commerce: A History of US Trade Policy (Markets and Governments in Economic History).

🌟🌟If you haven't got it, get it!

Clashing Over Commerce by @douglasirwin.bsky.social is $2.99 today on Kindle
www.amazon.com/dp/B077KZQQC...

Great thread!
There's a big difference between trade deals and trade agreements. Trade deals are limited, short term, and often superficial (remember IPEF?). Trade agreements are comprehensive, long term, substantive, and require Congressional approval. US isn't doing the latter.

You were eloquent and brilliant, great discussion!

Might be of interest...how Britain voted over trade in the 1906 general election....
www.jstor.org/stable/725605

Excellent thread and podcast about the challenges to Britain's free trade policy in 1903....

Never thought I'd see such a photo! Probably the same people who opposed TPP in 2016....?

Donald Trump’s gift to globalisation Not since the crash of 2008 has free trade held the moral and intellectual high ground

There's always been a lot of free trade bashing (you might say that free trade is always under fire), but you might miss or appreciate it when it's gone or taken from you . . . www.ft.com/content/9fd4...

Brazil tried protectionism . . did it work? anyone?
www.wsj.com/economy/trad...

Thank you @crampell.bsky.social for this scathing piece...
Why are Democrats pulling their punches on Trump’s disastrous trade war?

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Opinion | Trump’s Tariffs Are Unique in History U.S. trade policy went through three eras, focused on ‘revenue, restriction and reciprocity,’ economist Douglas Irwin says. The 47th president likes all three Rs, and a fourth, ‘retribution.’

www.wsj.com/opinion/trum...

Ditto

Richard Nixon’s third term on trade starts today Weirdly, it will be a relief if Trump’s tariffs are no higher than Tricky Dick’s

I'm off work just now so not following every twist, but Trump's 10% ex-China blanket tariff is basically what Nixon did, as predicted by the great @douglasirwin.bsky.social in this podcast with me. You argue with Doug at your peril. www.ft.com/content/4109...

See also: www.ft.com/content/007a...

Just throwing this out there: what if, instead of just a transfer, they agree to invest a certain amount of money in US firms each year. We could even tie that amount to the trade deficit.

The World's Worst Bet: How the Globalization Gamble Went Wrong (And What Would Make It Right) The World's Worst Bet: How the Globalization Gamble Went Wrong (And What Would Make It Right) [Lynch, David J] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The World's Worst Bet: How the Globalization Gamble Went Wrong (And What Would Make It Right)

With trade policies run amok, I hope @davidjlynch.bsky.social can explain all in his forthcoming book . . . looks fascinating
www.amazon.com/Worlds-Worst...

The actual formula for the tariffs that Trump applied includes kappa - the "kindness" factor, where k >> 0. k > 1 is kindness, k < 1 is unkindness, and Trump set k = 2

Even Americans don’t want Trump’s barmy tariffs, writes Douglas Irwin The trade historian predicts that the damage will be geopolitical as well as economic

"Mr Trump is a 20th-century man presiding over a 21st-century economy who wants to take it back to the 19th century," writes @douglasirwin.bsky.social in the Economist.

www.economist.com/by-invitatio...