As a long time fan of @economist.com going back to the last century, when James Callahan was PM (yes, that old!), it's a thrill to appear in print on their pages. Revised version of a web essay on the Supreme Court decision.

Kelvin's dictum, etched on the University of Chicago Social Science building: "when you cannot measure, your knowledge is meager and unsatisfactory." To which Jacob Viner replied,"And when you can measure, your knowledge is meager and unsatisfactory."

A super timely listen, @douglasirwin.bsky.social delivers a fantastic lecture, "Do Trump's Tariffs Make Sense?" as part of our #HayekLecture series. hope.econ.duke.edu/do-trumps-ta...

Come on @alanbeattie.bsky.social , don't mince words, tell us what you really think...

We need to make @douglasirwin.bsky.social's books required reading for schoolchildren and presidents.

My thoughts on the Supreme Court decision in The Economist: www.economist.com/by-invitatio...

Just a friendly reminder that the anti dumping process continues to churn out high tariffs beyond Trump's reciprocal tariffs ... www.wsj.com/world/europe...

This is a historic day for trade policy. Background here ⤵️

In about an hour, you can listen to the Supreme Court oral arguments in the IEEPA tariff cases here: www.supremecourt.gov/oral_argumen... I doubt we'll hear anything new and interesting in the parties' arguments, but if the justices ask anything that seems worth noting, I'll try to note it here.

"In countless speeches, radio addresses, and policy actions, Reagan assailed the costs of protection and hailed the virtues of free trade.” Economics professor @douglasirwin.bsky.social shows how President Trump is rebranding Reagan’s free trade legacy in an opinion piece in the @nytimes.com.

"Economic integration was once considered a threat to sovereignty. Today it has become its shield." www.economist.com/finance-and-...

Excellent piece from @douglasirwin.bsky.social Reagan: "We should beware of the demagogues who are ready to declare a trade war against our friends — weakening our economy, our national security and the entire free world — all while cynically waving the American flag www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/o...

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/o... Want to understand Reagan's trade policies? You have to understand the three P's: principles, pragmatism, and politics....

More on Reagan v Trump on tariffs www.wsj.com/opinion/reag...

On 2, check out Clashing over Commerce by @douglasirwin.bsky.social at p 574, quoting administration adviser Bill Niskanen: The Reagan administration's strategy was "to build a five-foot trade wall in order to deter a ten-foot wall [that would have been] established by Congress."

Anne Krueger political economy of the rent seeking society in action in Argentina

"Openness is a driver of growth." New Nobel laureate in economics Philippe Aghion is pro-trade and anti-tariff . . . go figure!

"The responsibility of economic historians is to remind the world what things were like before 1800. Growth was imperceptibly slow, and the vast bulk of the population was so poor that a harvest failure would kill millions." - Joel Mokyr www.wsj.com/articles/joe...

📢CFP Tariffs and Trade Policy: Past, Present, & Future @ncsu: Dec 5, 6, 7 (am) Due: Sept 30 tinyurl.com/2stm2fk7 Papers: 8 + Discuss Keynote: @douglasirwin.bsky.social Panel: Chad Bown +TBD Sponsor: @NSF NEW TARIFF DATABASE 1789-2025 Funding: Flight+Hotel+Food (presenter/discussant)

The US Constitution forbids export taxes but I guess this payment isn't a "tax" but a payout....🤔 www.nytimes.com/2025/08/10/t...

On cue . .

Some great lines from @davidfrum.bsky.social "There is no socialist way to create wealth. There is only a socialist way to spend wealth." "While Trump’s behavior discredits markets, his rhetoric vilifies markets." & more . . . www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Heartbreaking to the extent that US tariff policy contributed to this . . . www.bbc.com/news/article...

Watch the AHA’s Congressional Briefing on the history of tariffs on C-SPAN. Panelists @douglasirwin.bsky.social, @sharonannmurphy.bsky.social, & @rauchway.bsky.social discussed how the government has implemented tariffs in the past & how they have impacted the economy. 🗃️

Tomorrow, on 6/11, the AHA will host a Congressional Briefing offering historical perspectives on tariffs. Panelists @douglasirwin.bsky.social, @sharonannmurphy.bsky.social, & @rauchway.bsky.social will discuss how the govt. has implemented tariffs in the past, & how they have impacted the economy.🗃️

Greg Mankiw in the WSJ on whether economics is a science

Attention Capitol Hill staffers:

The ancients were onto something....

Speaking Wednesday w/Madison Cmte on Foreign Relations #econsky econbrowser.com/archives/202...

Declining trade volume is a goal, a feature not a bug

🌟🌟If you haven't got it, get it! Clashing Over Commerce by @douglasirwin.bsky.social is $2.99 today on Kindle www.amazon.com/dp/B077KZQQC...

Great thread! There's a big difference between trade deals and trade agreements. Trade deals are limited, short term, and often superficial (remember IPEF?). Trade agreements are comprehensive, long term, substantive, and require Congressional approval. US isn't doing the latter.

Excellent thread and podcast about the challenges to Britain's free trade policy in 1903....

Never thought I'd see such a photo! Probably the same people who opposed TPP in 2016....?

There's always been a lot of free trade bashing (you might say that free trade is always under fire), but you might miss or appreciate it when it's gone or taken from you . . . www.ft.com/content/9fd4...

Brazil tried protectionism . . did it work? anyone? www.wsj.com/economy/trad...

Thank you @crampell.bsky.social for this scathing piece... Why are Democrats pulling their punches on Trump’s disastrous trade war? www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

I'm off work just now so not following every twist, but Trump's 10% ex-China blanket tariff is basically what Nixon did, as predicted by the great @douglasirwin.bsky.social in this podcast with me. You argue with Doug at your peril. www.ft.com/content/4109... See also: www.ft.com/content/007a...

Just throwing this out there: what if, instead of just a transfer, they agree to invest a certain amount of money in US firms each year. We could even tie that amount to the trade deficit.

With trade policies run amok, I hope @davidjlynch.bsky.social can explain all in his forthcoming book . . . looks fascinating www.amazon.com/Worlds-Worst...

The actual formula for the tariffs that Trump applied includes kappa - the "kindness" factor, where k >> 0. k > 1 is kindness, k < 1 is unkindness, and Trump set k = 2

"Mr Trump is a 20th-century man presiding over a 21st-century economy who wants to take it back to the 19th century," writes @douglasirwin.bsky.social in the Economist. www.economist.com/by-invitatio...

With tariffs, Trump said, “we can be so much wealthier than any country, it’s not even believable.” He got that last bit right. www.economist.com/by-invitatio...

Great thread . . .

ICYMI: FT’s @alanbeattie.bsky.social excellent interview with @douglasirwin.bsky.social open.spotify.com/episode/5hvA...