Smoot Hawley Tariff

A Massive Economic Recession, Possibly Depression, Is On The Horizon, And Timing Is Crucial

Ronald 3 Comments

America has had its longest economic expansion in its history, more than 10 years, brought about under Barack Obama, and continuing under Donald Trump, but would have continued if Hillary Clinton had been inaugurated.

But what goes up must come down, the “gravity rule”, and Donald Trump has insured a future massive recession, maybe even a depression, by his insane policy on tariffs.

China is punishing us in the tariff wars, and Trump has lied to the American people about who suffers when such wars occur. It is NOT China, but American consumers, and American farmers, and this will lead to a massive revolt against Donald Trump 15 months from now.

If Trump studied history, he would know that two past Republican Presidents, Benjamin Harrison in 1892, and Herbert Hoover in 1932, suffered massive defeat as a result of the McKinley Tariff of 1890 and the Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930. It led to the Panic of 1893 and the Great Depression of 1929.

But Trump has no knowledge of history, or economics, or of any topic imaginable, as he is easily the most ignorant, clueless, and purely stupid President we have had, and makes Warren G. Harding and George W. Bush look like scholars by comparison.

The issue is WHEN the economic collapse will come, and hopefully, before the election, as if it happens after, and Donald Trump is reelected, he will do nothing to alleviate the worst aspects of the coming recession or depression, and will have four years to impoverish America further, and incite white working class people against women and minorities, who he will blame for his own shortcomings.

Open Civil War could come as a result, and lead to the total destruction of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and the great American image as the beacon of freedom and democracy could be permanently destroyed.

So we must hope that the collapse, as painful as it is, will occur in time to lead to a massive defeat of Donald Trump, with a Democratic President coming in to save us, as with Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 and Barack Obama in 2009.

Tariffs And Republican Depressions: Benjamin Harrison, Herbert Hoover, Now Donald Trump?

Ronald 1 Comment

Protective tariffs made sense in the time of Alexander Hamilton and the time of Henry Clay.

But in the late 19th century, big business corporations were able to create higher tariffs that were detrimental to the American worker, consumer, and economy, with the assistance of the corrupt Republican Party of the period.

In 1890, under Republican President Benjamin Harrison, we saw the passage of the McKinley Tariff, named after the future President, and it undermined the economy and contributed to the disastrous Panic of 1893, which affected the nation until 1898.

In 1930, months after the Stock Market Crash, Republican President Herbert Hoover, ignoring the pleas of hundreds of economists, signed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff, which caused a great worsening of the developing Great Depression.

As the decades went by, most Republicans and intelligent Democrats realized that high tariffs were not good, and free trade agreements developed in the 1990s.

Some far left liberals and some far right conservatives joined forces to fight this, and now Donald Trump has declared the inception of “Tariff Wars”, which will bring down the American economy, harm consumers and farmers, and cause unemployment to rise.

Trump is alienating the whole world–including China, Canada, Mexico, the European Union, and more–and instead will destroy the economic lives of millions of his own supporters, if he is not stopped from his crazy, lunatic actions!

Assuming we cannot stop what he is doing, the Republicans will suffer a blood bath, that will put the Republican Party in the dustbin of history.

It is time for Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell and the Republicans in Congress to show some “cajones”, and turn against Trump before he totally destroys the nation economically, and takes unto World War III against North Korea, who would be helped by China, and Iran, who would be helped by Russia.

Trump’s Tariff Wars Will Destroy Agriculture, Dramatically Raise Company Expenses And Prices, Cause Massive Consumer Price Inflation, And Rising Unemployment

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Donald Trump has announced a “Tariff War” against China, as the primary target, but also against most of our trade partners.

In so doing, he is guaranteeing a disastrous economy down the road.

In 1930, Herbert Hoover went along with the Smoot Hawley Tariff, and it helped make the Great Depression, which has begun months earlier, become an ever greater calamity.

But Donald Trump knows nothing about Herbert Hoover, and nothing about the effect of “tariff wars”.

So expect economic calamity, including American agriculture unable to sell their products overseas, causing a massive farm depression.

And expect that businesses will be harmed, and will start to raise prices, and those will be passed on to the consumers, all of us.

We will be paying a lot more for food, clothing, technology, and industrial goods of all kinds.

Also, many businesses, if they lose revenue, will lay off tens of thousands of workers, causing a massive rise in the unemployment rate.

And just today, the stock market reacted by losing nearly three percent, and dropping 724 points, and this will not be a one day phenomenon.

Donald Trump is destroying the revived and prosperous American economy accomplished by Barack Obama in his eight years in office.

It is almost as if he is purposely doing everything he can to wipe out the memory of our first African American President.

We have a very sick, demented President, and the nation is suffering, and will suffer ever more until he forced out of the Presidency, and it cannot come fast enough!

Protectionism And Isolationism: Herbert Hoover And Donald Trump

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Eighty six years ago, President Herbert Hoover signed into law the most protectionist tariff law in American history, the Smoot Hawley Tariff of 1930, over the strong opposition of hundreds of economists who signed newspaper ads opposing the cutoff of foreign trade in the early months of the Great Depression.

These economists warned that creating tariff walls would backfire on the US economy, but Hoover did not listen, and he paid the price of a much worsening depression, leading to his defeat in 1932 for reelection by Franklin D. Roosevelt

Hoover also pursued a foreign policy of isolationism, refusing to participate in the League of Nations, and issuing the Stimson Doctrine in 1932, named after the Secretary of State, Henry Stimson. This document declared the US refusal to recognize the aggression by Japan against Manchuria, part of China in 1931, but making clear that no military or other action would be taken against foreign aggression anywhere in the world.

Hoover continued to be an isolationist after the Presidency, and opposed US entrance into World War II until after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December, 1941.

Now, Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump is taking similar stands on both protectionism and isolationism, a pivot from the modern tradition of the Republican Party, and considered by many to be a major mistake in both domestic and foreign policy.