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June 13, 2007
An Ominous Anniversary
Don Boudreaux
Seventy-seven years ago today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Smoot-Hawley tariff. Seventy-seven years ago tomorrow the knaves in the Senate followed suit, and seventy-seven years ago on June 17th the ludicrous President Herbert Hoover signed it into "law," thus helping to mire the world for years in a Great Depression.
Posted by Don Boudreaux in History, Trade | Permalink
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Comments
Not to support protectionism, but aren't there other arguments about the cause of the Great Depression?
Posted by: hanmeng | Jun 13, 2007 4:28:05 PM
The other factors are the fed's policy and the decline of the US farmer. The farming sector was hurt because after WWI Europe had very little land to farm on, they imported their food from the US. By the 1930s the farms in Europe had come back online and prices dropped (increase in supply while demand remained constant).
I am sure that there are more factors but those are two of the major ones that I know about.
Posted by: Dan | Jun 13, 2007 4:34:47 PM
Herbert Hoover was not "ludicrous". The passage of the protectionist bill was political and something that Hoover on his own volition would never have passed.
Herbert Hoover was a progressive Republican in the Teddy Roosevelt mold who actually initiated many modern policies. Most of the "New Deal" programs sprang directly from initiatives that Hoover started.
In my view, the best interpetation of the Great Depression is that it was an economic transformation of the United States economy. Prior to 1929 the economic structure of the United States was essentially premodern, especially the financial and agricultural sectors.
TO create the modern economy that we presently enjoy required massive economic dislocations and frankly government intervention.
Posted by: Mark | Jun 13, 2007 5:16:07 PM
Although the tariff passed in 1930, the 1929 crash match the very day the anti-tariff coalition collapsed.
But there are (of course) other factors to the Great Depression.
Posted by: Pierre | Jun 13, 2007 6:18:38 PM
I highly recommend Russ's recent podcast with Amity Shlaes on this topic. Very interesting, engaging and informative. I have Ms. Shlaes book in my Amazon shopping cart.
Steve
Posted by: Steve | Jun 14, 2007 7:07:10 PM
