Over seven days before and after the Smoot-Hawley act was passed in mid-June 1930, the Dow fell 15% but got most of the decline back by late July before falling more than 30% into year end. This protectionist act did great harm to the US, and it was one leading cause for the Great Depression.
To a lesser extent, the US today (as I have written in a few prior articles) is pursuing protectionist policies that greatly offend other nations, eg, Mexico, Poland and most recently, China.
Here is Stein's appearance in the movie, teaching to a class of students who are about as interested as most Americans today in the importance of this subject.
Here is the text from that clip: In 1930, the Republican controlled House of Representatives, in an effort to alleviate the effects of the… Anyone? Anyone?… the Great Depression, passed the…Anyone? The tariff bill? The Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act which, anyone? anyone? Raised or lowered?… Raised tariffs, in an effort to collect more revenue for the federal government. Did it work? Anyone? Anyone know the effects? It did not work, and the US sank deeper into the Great Depression.
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