Here’s a letter to the Wall Street Journal.
Editor:
Joseph Epstein describes Pres. Trump as a “borax man” – a mid-20th-century term for, in Mr. Epstein words, “an especially slick salesman, aggressive and relentless” (“Donald Trump Is a Borax Man,” December 19).
There’s much to be said for this description. But a more current characterization of the president also comes to mind: He’s a peddler of “one weird trick” – namely, tariffs. This single policy will fuel a manufacturing boom, raise wages, strengthen families, attract loads of foreign investment, eliminate U.S. trade deficits, halt all unfair trade practices, flood our government’s coffers with unprecedented revenues, and secure our national defense. It’ll even stop the flow of fentanyl! In short, the one weird trick of tariffs will solve all of America’s problems and make us great, glorious, and the envy of the world. Easy-peasy!
In reality, of course, Mr. Trump’s one weird tariff trick is as credible as are the one weird tricks promising fast and easy weight-loss and men lasting longer in the bedroom.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Professor of Economics
and
Martha and Nelson Getchell Chair for the Study of Free Market Capitalism at the Mercatus Center
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030
