According to Paul Whitfield, economists differ on how much blame the Smoot-Hawley tariffs deserve for the Great Depression. They also disagree on how much credit President Franklin Roosevelt deserves for the Reciprocal Tariff Act, which put the U.S. on a path to lower tariffs. But the market knows.
Questions:
- According to the article, what similarities exist with today’s circumstances?
- According to the article, what differences exist with today’s circumstances?
- What trouble did the stock market face on August 5, 2019? (i.e., how many points lost?)
Source:
Whitfield, P. (2019) Stock Market Reaction To Tariffs: Wall Street Has Seen This Before; The End Is Not Good. Investor’s Business Daily, August 1 (Retrievable online at https://www.investors.com/how-to-invest/investors-corner/trump-tariffs-history-dow-jones/)