Sunday, October 10, 2010

Doug Irwin on Smoot-Hawley, Tariffs and Trade

About a week ago, I posted on why economic educators are needed to help educate the young about the importance and value of trade. I mentioned that a recent poll showed just over half of Americans feel free trade is detrimental to the economy.

This past weekend, one of my favorite economics authors, Doug Irwin at Dartmouth had a long and informative piece in The Wall Street Journal. I like Irwin because he is an engaging writer on what many consider to be an esoteric topic. His arguments are clear and his examples are always well-chosen. If you're an economics teacher looking for a piece to have your students dissect when you discuss trade, or if you're an American History teacher looking for something that relates the long tariff debate in the U.S. to current events, you could look a long time before you found anything as pertinent as Dr. Irwin's piece.

I welcome your thoughts.

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