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Tariffs and Trade blog
The Tariff of 1828 Was So Hated Its Enemies Called It the Tariff of Abominations The Tariff of 1828 led to South Carolina's nullification crisis. The dates, the people, and what the fight teaches both conservative camps in the tariff debate. The Jones Act, a 1920 shipping law that costs Puerto Rico and Hawaii A 1920 law says cargo between American ports must ride American-built ships, and the islands pay. The case for reform, with the defense argument heard first. Who can raise tariffs? Article I, Section 232 and the delegated power The Constitution gives Congress the power over duties, but statutes from 1934 to 1977 delegated much of it to the President. Here is how, and why it matters. A trade deficit is not a loss, and the accounting identity proves it A trade deficit is matched by foreign investment in America because the books must balance. Here is the identity, a worked example and the fair worry. The China shock was real, and what free traders and tariff hawks each get right Free traders cite cheap goods and tariff hawks cite lost factory towns and security. Both are right about something, and the evidence shows where. Comparative advantage explained with Ricardo's wine and English cloth Ricardo's 1817 example shows why trade enriches both countries even when one is better at everything, with the arithmetic and the theory's limits. Hamilton's Report on Manufactures and the conservative case for tariffs Hamilton's 1791 Report on Manufactures is the founding text of the conservative case for tariffs. Read it closely, then hear the free traders' reply. Should America Stop Paying for the World's Medicines? Conservatives Split Two conservative answers to foreign drug price controls, importing their prices or pressing them through trade, and why the second is the better one. What Commerce Among the Several States Meant to the Men Who Wrote It In 1787 regulating commerce among the states meant governing trade across state lines, not every act that adds up to an effect on a market.