Thomas Sowell: Politics, racism & life.

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EXCELLENT tribute and deep dive into the life of Thomas Sowell. Shame he isn't more widely regarded.

 

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Smart guy.

Thomas Sowell on Trump's Trade War and Trump's View on Trade Surpluses

Thomas Sowell talks to Reason Magazine about Trump's trade war.

www.aei.org

From Thomas Sowell’s interview with Thomas Hazlett for Reason Magazine:

Thoughts on the Trump trade war?
Oh my gosh, an utter disaster. I happen to believe that the Smoot-Hawley tariffs had more to do with setting off the Great Depression of the 1930s than the stock market crash. Unemployment never reached double digits in any of the 12 months that followed the crash of October 1929, but it hit double digits within six months of passage of Smoot-Hawley, and stayed there for a decade.
What about the view by President Trump that other countries are ripping us off by running trade surpluses?
It’s pathetic. The very phrase “trade surpluses” gives half a story. There are countries that supply mainly goods, physical goods, and there are other things like services that other countries provide, and the United States gets a lot of money from providing services. To talk about one part of the trading and ignore the other part fails to understand that money is money no matter whether it’s from goods or services.
When you set off a trade war, like any other war, you have no idea how that’s going to end. You’re going to be blindsided by all kinds of consequences. You do not make America great again by raising the price to Americans, which is what a tariff does.