raghu wrote: > Is it inaccurate to say that Smoot-Hawley > *contributed* to prolonging the Depression?
S-H did contribute. But I don't think it was an exogenous event, a sin by legislators. Instead, I'd explain it by the political economy of the day, a matter of nation-states in greater Western Europe competing with each other to boost their economies in a nationalist way, often at expense of each other, with no hegemon to calm things down. It's the same political economy that set the stage for World War I. I'd say that the current political economy is not so prone to trade wars. Instead, there's competition to cut wages, environmental standards, and the like. At least so far it's been encouraged by the hegemon (the US) as part of the neoliberal policy consensus. -- Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
