General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Offshoring: Should America be impoverished in order to help other populations become better off? [View all]Sen. Walter Sobchak
(8,692 posts)The question is whether the damage inflicted by the trade war that followed was worth it, the universal consensus is it was not. The differential between imports and exports following that period comes from the varied retaliation launched by other countries. Some countries only retaliated against specific high volume or high profile exports. Others just slammed the door entirely. The schedule of tariffs was also largely based on industry bribes to Republican Senator Joe Grundy so the impact of the bill was not universal to all imports.
Both imports and exports fell by roughly two thirds and a trade deficit persisted. Some accomplishment. Clearly this is a policy to be rehabilitated and rehashed with much vigor! FDR was opposed to this policy, he thought it was corrupt and insane. It is disheartening to see one of the most thoroughly discredited republican policies of the 20th Century has such a passionate following around here.