Saturday, May 14, 2011
From John A. Garraty
"In 1930, Congress passed the Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act, which raised the the duties on most manufactured products to prohibitive levels. Although OVER A THOUSAND (my emphasis) economists joined in urging Hoover to veto this measure on the grounds that it would encourage inefficiency and stifle world trade, he signed it cheerfully. The new tariff made it impossible for European nations to earn the dollars they needed to continue making payments on their WW1 debts to the United States and also helped bring on a financial collapse in Europe in 1931.............................................................................................He (Hoover) seemed unable to grasp what should have been obvious to a man of his intelligence: that high American tariffs made currency devaluation almost inevitable in Europe and that the curtailment of American investment on the Continent as a result of the depression had dealt a staggering blow to the economies of all the European nations."...............................................................................................For those of you who don't know who Mr. Garraty was, he was one of the foremost historians and biographers of the 20th century (President of the Society of American Historians). He taught for many years at Columbia and his textbook, "The American Nation" is considered by many to be a standard.
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4 comments:
I find it interesting that Hoover actually had cheerfully started the activities that Roosevelt cntinued and but the gas to.
So much for the two party system. Although I curiously find myself beginning to think REASONABLE tariffs may be a positive thing,
The jury is still deliberating.
I'm basically a free trader, Les, but, yeah, like you, I never say never. China, for instance, is very much pissing me off.
China's pissing you off because they're taking advantage of the policies you favor? That doesn't make a hell of a lot of sense.
A thousand economists? That must have been all of them.
Actually, according to Thomas Palley, an economist at the New America Foundation, "[The] economic effects [of Smoot-Hawley] were minor for the US given the pre-existing high tariff structure and the minimal extent of US engagement in trade. Indeed, those effects may even have been beneficial in that spending switched from imports to domestically produced goods".
So, according to the New America Foundation, President Hoover done good? And FDR, not so good in that he tried to liberalize trade? Interesting, VERY INTERESTING.......I still pick Garraty, btw.
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