Tariffs are tough for conservatives to agree with and adopt. Historically and economically tariffs are obviously bad. Thomas Sowell is my hero and I align with his economics. His exceedingly well thought out approach based on real life circumstances is hard to argue against.
I don't wonder what he would say about reciprocal tariffs... I've read a few of his books and Thomas Sowell's stance on reciprocal tariffs and macro economics is clear:
Google - Thomas Sowell views tariffs, especially broad or "reciprocal" ones, as economically damaging, repeating the mistakes of the 1920s that worsened the Great Depression, causing job losses and reduced trade through retaliatory wars; he sees them as inefficient tools that benefit specific industries at the expense of consumers and overall economic health, leading to uncertainty and hindering market function. His stance aligns with free-market principles, emphasizing that such protectionism creates artificial costs, destroys more jobs than it creates, and ultimately harms national economies by disrupting global trade and supply chains.
Grok - Regarding “reciprocal” or “fairness” arguments (e.g., “if they tariff us, we should tariff them”), Sowell considers this economically illiterate. He often uses the analogy: “If another country puts rocks in their own harbor, is the wise response to put rocks in our harbor too?” Unilateral free trade benefits your own country regardless of what others do.
ChatGPT - Thomas Sowell has written extensively on trade, tariffs, and macroeconomics over several decades. His stance is consistent, clear, and grounded in classical economic principles. Tariffs hurt your own citizens, not foreign governments
Sowell argues that tariffs are essentially taxes on domestic consumers, raising prices for goods at home. Imposing tariffs “in retaliation” simply doubles the harm by raising prices on imports for your own consumers
Beemer - My view is slightly different. Should the US have any Tariffs? Obviously yes but a true like Thomas Sowell would say no.
If country "X" can produce steel at half the cost of the US then we buy their steel. Shutting down our steel plants will free up labor to do other things. Labor is the true limiting factor to production.
However, this pure economic view while absolutely true during normal circumstances completely fails during conflict, pandemics, zombie apocalypse, etc...
So... Trump was clear if a country had no tariffs on the US we would have no tariffs on them making Thomas Sowell very happy. If they had "normal" Tariffs on the US then Trump wants to keep our tariffs around 10%.
The higher or crazy high tariffs are specifically designed to break down historical tariffs of other countries. Shining a light on insane post WWII tariff structures that are still in place to encourage the recovery of Japan makes sense.
Lastly, there have been some important people talking about eliminating the income tax. I know that seems insane. Consider this... 7 states do not have an income tax and most of them are flourishing. A great example of what not to do is Connecticut. They didn't have an income tax and decided to add one to raise more money in 1991. It took 30 years for people to vote with their feet. The tax worked until it didn't... last year I believe was the 1st year their state revenue dropped below pre income tax levels. Without international (illegals) migration Connecticut's population would have continued to decline relative to the United States.
My point... Tariffs are a tax on the consumer. A tax on all consumers. If it's managed correctly it theoretically could replace the income tax.
If you eliminate the income tax or just the corporate income tax (which is also a tax on the consumer) the economic boom would be massive and sustainable. If our government could find a way to fund itself and eliminate all income taxes as originally spelled out in the Constitution the positive impact would be incomprehensible.
I worked for almost two decades to repeal the 16th Amendment (while you're at it toss in repealing the 17th) which would end the individual income tax. America would immediately become the economic shining light on the hill and maintain itself as world's largest economy.
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| Greatest Practical Economist - Thomas Sowell |
