Here is my column from The Free Press:
But the real exercise, and critique of the tariffs, has to be a comparative one. After all, it is estimated that the tariffs will bring in between $1.5 trillion and $5.2 trillion of revenue over the next decade.
A good debate would be “the Trump tariffs” vs. “a more comprehensive VAT with lower rates and a broader base.” But, rightly or not, Democratic Party intellectuals likely would lose that debate in the eyes of the public and perhaps even in their own party. They probably would not lose it with professional economists, though in this regard I am an outlier in terms of the spending cuts I would favor.
Of course this helps explain the apparent paradox of why the stock market is these days up and not down. But many people do not wish to look too closely at that issue…
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