Free Republic

Americans are increasingly supportive of tariffs on cheap, imported goods from foreign countries to protect American industries and workers against wild globalization. In a poll by Rasmussen Reports, roughly 50 percent of Americans said the federal government should “place tariffs on goods from countries that pay very low wages to their workers,” as opposed to only 26 percent of Americans who said tariffs should not be imposed on foreign countries. About 24 percent of Americans said they were “not sure” if the government should use tariffs to protect American industries. Additionally, a plurality of Americans, about 44 percent, said the...

Few areas of historical research have provoked such intensive study as the origins of America’s Great Depression. From 1929 to 1933 America suffered the worst economic decline in its history. Real national income fell by 36 percent; unemployment increased from 3 percent to over 25 percent; more than 40 percent of all banks were permanently closed; and international investment and trade declined dramatically. The dimensions of the economic catastrophe in America and the rest of the world from 1929 to 1933 cannot be captured fully by quantitative data alone. Tens of millions of humans suffered intense misery and despair. Because...

By Stephen Moore & Lawrence Kudlow Here's a historical fact that Donald Trump, and many voters attracted to him, may not know: The last American president who was a trade protectionist was Republican Herbert Hoover. Obviously that economic strategy didn't turn out so well — either for the nation or the GOP. Does Trump aspire to be a 21st century Hoover with a modernized platform of the 1930 Smoot-Hawley tariff that helped send the U.S. and world economy into a decade-long depression and a collapse of the banking system? We can't help wondering whether the panic in world financial markets...

The Republican Party of the 1920's swept into power during a financial crisis. Errors in the Fed’s monetary policy in 1919 in kept rates too low to benefit the sale of Victory bonds. The Fed then tightened excessively due to inflation, creating a financial shock and depression from 1920 to 1921. At that time, the Republican Party viewed increasing tariffs as good policy. Thus, during the sixty seventh Congress, the Emergency Tariff Act of 1921 was passed as a temporary measure until a more comprehensive measure could be drafted. Ultimately, Fordney-McCumber passed in 1922, imposing an ad valorem rate of...

Here's a historical fact that Donald Trump, and many voters attracted to him, may not know: The last American president who was a trade protectionist was Republican Herbert Hoover. Does Trump aspire to be a 21st century Hoover with a modernized platform of the 1930 Smoot-Hawley tariff that helped send the U.S. and world economy into a decade-long depression and a collapse of the banking system?

There are three things driving a surge in organic imports: 1.U.S. farmers have been systematically pushed into growing mostly GMO crops; grown primarily for fuel, animal feed and cheap processed foods. Russia even used our food supply as an example for the EU to dump us and join them instead. 2.U.S. consumers are not only demanding fresh, organic produce as well as non-GMO convenience foods – but also want meat, dairy and eggs from animals that were fed non-GMO or organic feed. 3.Other countries primarily grow non-GE crops, and plenty of organic. They’ve got the goods and they reap the...

"The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act caused the Great Depression" as a number of talk-radio show hosts, politicians, and cable news channel reporters have lamented in recent weeks. "The 'Buy American' clause in the Stimulus Bill will be another Smoot-Hawley" rails others. Did Smoot-Hawley cause the Great Depression? The answer to that is "no". Did Smoot-Hawley continue the Great Depression. The answer to that is "no", also. -------------------------------------------- When it was announced last week that the proposed "Stimulus Bill" would contain a "Buy American" clause, every advocate of Free Trade...from conservative GOP members to Socialist European Union politicians...decried the "Buy American" clause,...

While free trade yields a net positive to every nation that participates in it to any degree, tough economic times call for even more robust worldwide trade. With a failing economy it becomes all the more important for a country to maximize the use of its own resources and minimize the cost of the resources it brings in. But, following the shining example of the Great Depression, things are once again going the other way - according to a New York Times article. After repeated pledges by world leaders to avoid erecting trade barriers, protectionism is on the march, provoking...

Kerry's message to Nevadans — essentially, "I feel your hypothetical pain" — testifies to his readiness to do whatever it takes to win. As does his vow last week that, if elected, he would renegotiate the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). He would try to force signatory nations (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and, soon, the Dominican Republic) to adopt labor and environmental standards more pleasing to him... Time was, Kerry was a free trader. Now he favors "fair trade," as defined by his labor allies. But he still is a critic of what he and likeminded...