Download or read book The Smoot Hawley Tariff Act Revisited written by Bernard C. Beaudreau and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2020-02-28 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 remains one of the most enigmatic pieces of legislation in the 20th century. Held by some to have caused the Great Depression, and by others to have worsened it, the Act’s underlying motives continue to be the subject of vigorous debate. For example, Dartmouth College economic historian and trade expert Douglas Irwin pointed to a political ploy on the part of the Republican Party to avert electoral defeat in 1928 by the Mid-West farm lobby. This book presents an alternative view, based in large measure on recently published studies. It is argued that the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act should be understood as the Republican Party’s attempt at closing a widening output gap in the US, resulting from the widespread adoption of a new power transmission technology in the form of electric unit drive (EUD). Electric unit drive, by providing the wherewithal to increase machine speed considerably, resulted in productivity gains in the 40-100 percent range. Existing plant and equipment was now vastly more productive as a result of greater machine speeds. The book consists of six papers, five of which were previously published.

Download or read book Peddling Protectionism written by Douglas A. Irwin and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2017-10-24 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A history of America's most infamous tariff The Smoot-Hawley tariff of 1930, which raised U.S. duties on hundreds of imported goods to record levels, is America's most infamous trade law. It is often associated with—and sometimes blamed for—the onset of the Great Depression, the collapse of world trade, and the global spread of protectionism in the 1930s. Even today, the ghosts of congressmen Reed Smoot and Willis Hawley haunt anyone arguing for higher trade barriers; almost single-handedly, they made protectionism an insult rather than a compliment. In Peddling Protectionism, Douglas Irwin provides the first comprehensive history of the causes and effects of this notorious measure, explaining why it largely deserves its reputation for combining bad politics and bad economics and harming the U.S. and world economies during the Depression. In four brief, clear chapters, Irwin presents an authoritative account of the politics behind Smoot-Hawley, its economic consequences, the foreign reaction it provoked, and its aftermath and legacy. Starting as a Republican ploy to win the farm vote in the 1928 election by increasing duties on agricultural imports, the tariff quickly grew into a logrolling, pork barrel free-for-all in which duties were increased all around, regardless of the interests of consumers and exporters. After Herbert Hoover signed the bill, U.S. imports fell sharply and other countries retaliated by increasing tariffs on American goods, leading U.S. exports to shrivel as well. While Smoot-Hawley was hardly responsible for the Great Depression, Irwin argues, it contributed to a decline in world trade and provoked discrimination against U.S. exports that lasted decades. Peddling Protectionism tells a fascinating story filled with valuable lessons for trade policy today.

Download or read book Clashing Over Commerce written by Douglas A. Irwin and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2017-11-29 with total page 873 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Foreign Affairs Best Book of the Year: “Tells the history of American trade policy . . . [A] grand narrative [that] also debunks trade-policy myths.” —Economist Should the United States be open to commerce with other countries, or should it protect domestic industries from foreign competition? This question has been the source of bitter political conflict throughout American history. Such conflict was inevitable, James Madison argued in the Federalist Papers, because trade policy involves clashing economic interests. The struggle between the winners and losers from trade has always been fierce because dollars and jobs are at stake: depending on what policy is chosen, some industries, farmers, and workers will prosper, while others will suffer. Douglas A. Irwin’s Clashing over Commerce is the most authoritative and comprehensive history of US trade policy to date, offering a clear picture of the various economic and political forces that have shaped it. From the start, trade policy divided the nation—first when Thomas Jefferson declared an embargo on all foreign trade and then when South Carolina threatened to secede from the Union over excessive taxes on imports. The Civil War saw a shift toward protectionism, which then came under constant political attack. Then, controversy over the Smoot-Hawley tariff during the Great Depression led to a policy shift toward freer trade, involving trade agreements that eventually produced the World Trade Organization. Irwin makes sense of this turbulent history by showing how different economic interests tend to be grouped geographically, meaning that every proposed policy change found ready champions and opponents in Congress. Deeply researched and rich with insight and detail, Clashing over Commerce provides valuable and enduring insights into US trade policy past and present. “Combines scholarly analysis with a historian’s eye for trends and colorful details . . . readable and illuminating, for the trade expert and for all Americans wanting a deeper understanding of America’s evolving role in the global economy.” —National Review “Magisterial.” —Foreign Affairs

Download or read book Trade the Congressional Effect written by Eric T. Singer and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2012-09-07 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An innovative investment approach that takes the actions of the U.S. Congress into consideration Historical research indicates that, more often than not, when Congress is in session there is a negative effect on equities markets (the "Congressional Effect") due possibly to investor uncertainty surrounding government action or inaction as well as the unintended consequences of Congressional legislative initiatives on the stock market. Author Eric Singer, a financial professional with over twenty-five years of experience, is an expert on this phenomenon, and with this new book he shares his extensive insights with you. Trade the Congressional Effect skillfully details how you can profit from Congress's impact on the stock market. Along the way, it puts this approach in perspective and gives you all the tools you'll need to profitably incorporate it into your investing endeavors. Singer walks you through the process of trading the Congressional Effect and provides practical guidance regarding the possible pitfalls and opportunities you'll face each step of the way. Addresses why it is better to invest while Congress isn't in session Reveals exactly what the Congressional Effect encompasses and why it occurs Written by Eric Singer, one of the first people to publicly document the general effect of Congress on daily stock prices Supported by over forty-five years of real world data, the Congressional Effect has proven profitable to those who know how to use it. This timely guide will show you exactly what it takes to make this phenomenon work for you.

Download or read book Trading Blows written by James Shoch and published by Univ of North Carolina Press. This book was released on 2003-01-14 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the past two decades, trade policy has been high on the American political agenda, thanks to the growing integration of the United States into the global economy and the wealth of debate this development has sparked. Although scholars have explored many aspects of U.S. trade policy, there has been little study of the role played by party politics. With Trading Blows, James Shoch fills that gap. Shoch offers detailed case studies of almost all of the major trade issues of the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton eras, including administrative and legislative efforts to curb auto, steel, and other imports and to open up markets in Japan and elsewhere, as well as free-trade initiatives such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) treaty that concluded the Uruguay Round of international trade talks, the extension of presidential fast-track trade negotiating authority, and the approval of permanent normal trade relations with China. In so doing, he explains the complex patterns of party competition over U.S. trade policy since 1980 and demonstrates the significant impact that party politics has had on the nation's recent trade policy decisions.

Download or read book Landmark Debates in Congress written by Stephen W. Stathis and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2009 with total page 529 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents and analyzes numerous pivotal historical debates, from the Declaration of Independence to authorizing war with Iraq.

Download or read book The Political Economy of International Trade written by Jae Wan Chung and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2006-01-30 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: American trade policy is a crucial subject to not only the United States but also foreign countries. Free trade has been a long-standing U.S. policy position, playing the lead role in the international free trade framework and contributing to this framework through multilateral trade negotiations. As both trade deficits and fiscal deficits steadily increased during the 1980s in the U.S., free trade has not stood without its share of suffering. Chung investigates American trade policy from the perspectives of U.S. trade laws and international trade agreements by outlining the primary trade laws of the past; considering the trade laws of the present; and delving into various trade agreements, disputes, and reforms. Looking to the future, Chung offers a unique argument for the enforcement of trade remedy laws and the reform of the international trade framework. The Political Economy of International Trade is certain to be of interest to academics, policymakers, trade industry practitioners, and politicians in the United States as well as around the world.

Download or read book Assessing the World Trade Organization written by Manfred Elsig and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2017-04-27 with total page 469 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The World Trade Organization (WTO) recently celebrated twenty years of existence. The general wisdom is that its dispute settlement institutions work well and its negotiation machinery goes through a phase of prolonged crises. Assessing the World Trade Organization overcomes this myopic view and takes stock of the WTO's achievements whilst going beyond existing disciplinary narratives. With chapters written by scholars who have closely observed the development of the WTO in recent years, this book presents the state of the art in thinking about WTO performance. It also considers important issues such as the origins of the multilateral system, the accession process and the WTO's interaction with other international organisations. The contributions shed new light on untold stories, critically review and present existing scholarship, and sketch new research avenues for a future generation of trade scholars. This book will appeal to a wide audience that aims to better understand the drivers and obstacles of WTO performance.

Download or read book Congressional Institutions and the Passage of the Hawley Smoot Tariff written by Richard Sicotte and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Previous analysis on the political economy of the Hawley-Smoot tariff has emphasized either the role of interest groups or of party politics. We examine the specific decision to increase the duty on sugar, an extremely important commodity in the structure of the tariff and one which figured centrally in the debate on the legislation as a whole. We test the traditional explanations and critique their analytical power. We find that the most important factors explaining the increase in the sugar duty were the advantageous positions of congressional representatives of sugar interests on key committees and the procedural rules for voting on legislation.

Download or read book The Art and Practice of Economics Research written by Simon W. Bowmaker and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2012-01-01 with total page 519 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ïIn this book, Simon Bowmaker offers a remarkable collection of conversations with leading economists about research in economics. He has selected a broad sample of the great economists of our time, including people whose perspectives span most of the major subdivisions of economics research, from micro to macro, from theoretical to empirical, from rationalist to behavioral.Í _ From the foreword by Roger B. Myerson, University of Chicago, US and 2007 Nobel Laureate in Economics ïThe Art and Practice of Economics Research is the book I wish I had when I was ñgrowing upî as an economist. For anyone who is or wants to be an economic researcher, or anyone just interested in how economics ñworksî, this is a terrific and inspirational resource.Í _ David K. Levine, Washington University in St. Louis, US ïIt is hard to imagine an economist in the world who would not enjoy this book. It is fascinating, gripping, and full of the wisdom imparted by age and by scholarly lifeÍs ups and downs.Í _ Andrew J. Oswald, University of Warwick, UK ïAlthough each has followed his or her own road, these scholars share a passion for economics and a commitment to the research enterprise. The best economists lie sleepless, gripped by their questions.Í _ Joshua Angrist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US ïThis is a wonderful book of interviews with some of the most respected economists in the world. It is full of insights into academic life, and clearly conveys the joy of doing economics research.Í _ Jon Levin, Stanford University, US ïThe relaxed frame of the interviews gives interested parties exciting insights into the thoughts and concerns of leading economists and might well inspire some of the best young minds to continue with economics in their later lives.Í _ Ernst Fehr, University of Zurich, Switzerland The Art and Practice of Economics Research provides an in-depth look into the research methods of leading economists from across the United States and Europe. This innovative volume contains 25 interviews with practicing economists, presenting insightful personal accounts into an often-misunderstood field. Contributors to this volume were asked to reflect on their own experience in economics research, including their methods of working, the process of scientific discovery and knowledge creation, and the challenges of successfully disseminating their work. The unique and compelling interview format showcases each contributorÍs personal connection to his or her work, presenting a view of current economics research that is technical, comprehensive, and refreshingly human. Both students and current scholars in economics will find much to admire in this bookÍs window into the inner workings of some of the brightest and best-known minds in the field. This volume would also make a great companion to the authorÍs 2010 book, The Heart of Teaching Economics, which showcases the personal experiences of teachers and professors of economics.

Download or read book Research in Economic History written by Alexander J. Field and published by Emerald Group Publishing. This book was released on 2010-03-30 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Amongst other European and US focussed topics, this volume addresses: the macroeconomic aggregates for England, 1209-2004; capital accumulation in Spain, 1850-2000; British Estate Acts, 1600 to 1830. It also discusses historical trends in food consumption in the United States.

Download or read book Nominations of Edward P Lazear Randall S Kroszner and Kevin M Warsh written by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 88 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Roaring Twenties Turning Up the Volume written by Bernard C. Beaudreau and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2019-06 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this Volume, the various measures taken by successive Administrations to fully utilize the new-found potential are examined critically. These include the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 and the National Labor Relations Act of 1935. The readings in this case consist of my own published work on the topic over the course of the past decade. The articles in question set out to do two things, namely situate the relevant policy measure in the appropriate historical context, namely the presence of output gaps, and second, evaluate the efficacy or wisdom of the proposed policy measures. For example, contrary to popular belief, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act was a response to growing excess-capacity-related stagnation in the form of unemployment. Evidence is presented which shows that the output gaps referred to above were clearly on the minds of Ranking Republicans at the Kansas City National Convention in June 1928.

Download or read book WRONG written by Richard S. Grossman and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2013-09-23 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent years, the world has been rocked by major economic crises, most notably the devastating collapse of Lehman Brothers, the largest bankruptcy in American history, which triggered the breathtakingly destructive sub-prime disaster. What sparks these vast economic calamities? Why do our economic policy makers fail to protect us from such upheavals? In Wrong, economist Richard Grossman addresses such questions, shining a light on the poor thinking behind nine of the worst economic policy mistakes of the past 200 years, missteps whose outcomes ranged from appalling to tragic. Grossman tells the story behind each misconceived economic move, explaining why the policy was adopted, how it was implemented, and its short- and long-term consequences. In each case, he shows that the main culprits were policy makers who were guided by ideology rather than economics. For instance, Wrong looks at how America's unfounded fear of a centralized monetary authority caused them to reject two central banks, condemning the nation to wave after wave of financial panics. He describes how Britain's blind commitment to free markets, rather than to assisting the starving in Ireland, led to one of the nineteenth century's worst humanitarian tragedies- the Irish famine. And he shows how Britain's reestablishment of the gold standard after World War I, fuelled largely by a desire to recapture its pre-war dominance, helped to turn what would otherwise have been a normal recession into the Great Depression. Grossman also explores the Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930, Japan's lost decade of the 1990s, the American subprime crisis, and the present European sovereign debt crisis. Economic policy should be based on cold, hard economic analysis, Grossman concludes, not on an unquestioning commitment to a particular ideology. Wrong shows what happens when this sensible advice is ignored.

Download or read book The Encyclopedia of Public Choice written by Charles Rowley and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2008-01-25 with total page 1142 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Encyclopedia provides a detailed and comprehensive account of the subject known as public choice. However, the title would not convey suf- ciently the breadth of the Encyclopedia’s contents which can be summarized better as the fruitful interchange of economics, political science and moral philosophy on the basis of an image of man as a purposive and responsible actor who pursues his own objectives as efficiently as possible. This fruitful interchange between the fields outlined above existed during the late eighteenth century during the brief period of the Scottish Enlightenment when such great scholars as David Hume, Adam Ferguson and Adam Smith contributed to all these fields, and more. However, as intell- tual specialization gradually replaced broad-based scholarship from the m- nineteenth century onwards, it became increasingly rare to find a scholar making major contributions to more than one. Once Alfred Marshall defined economics in neoclassical terms, as a n- row positive discipline, the link between economics, political science and moral philosophy was all but severed and economists redefined their role into that of ‘the humble dentist’ providing technical economic information as inputs to improve the performance of impartial, benevolent and omniscient governments in their attempts to promote the public interest. This indeed was the dominant view within an economics profession that had become besotted by the economics of John Maynard Keynes and Paul Samuelson immediately following the end of the Second World War.

Download or read book Nominations of Mark W Olson Susan Schmidt Bies James E Gilleran Allan I Mendelowitz Franz S Leichter John T Korsmo Eduardo Aguirre Jr and Randall S Kroszner written by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Trading Barriers written by Margaret E. Peters and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2017-05-09 with total page 343 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why have countries increasingly restricted immigration even when they have opened their markets to foreign competition through trade or allowed their firms to move jobs overseas? In Trading Barriers, Margaret Peters argues that the increased ability of firms to produce anywhere in the world combined with growing international competition due to lowered trade barriers has led to greater limits on immigration. Peters explains that businesses relying on low-skill labor have been the major proponents of greater openness to immigrants. Immigration helps lower costs, making these businesses more competitive at home and abroad. However, increased international competition, due to lower trade barriers and greater economic development in the developing world, has led many businesses in wealthy countries to close or move overseas. Productivity increases have allowed those firms that have chosen to remain behind to do more with fewer workers. Together, these changes in the international economy have sapped the crucial business support necessary for more open immigration policies at home, empowered anti-immigrant groups, and spurred greater controls on migration. Debunking the commonly held belief that domestic social concerns are the deciding factor in determining immigration policy, Trading Barriers demonstrates the important and influential role played by international trade and capital movements.