Quotation of the Day…

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… is from pages 53-54 of the 2005 reprint of Harvard economist Frank Taussig’s classic 1888 work, The Tariff History of the United States:

The real motive for maintaining the heavy tax [on imported iron] through these years [roughly 1816-1846] undoubtedly was the unwillingness of the domestic producers to face the competition of the cheaper article. The tax is a clear illustration of that tendency to fetter and impede the progress of improvement which is inherent in protective legislation. It laid a considerable burden on the community, and … it was of no service in encouraging the early growth of the iron industry.

DBx: America’s industrialization during the 19th century was not helped along by protectionism.