As prices rise and wealth disappears, remember who caused it all | Column

By Mark S. Singel Anybody who spends a few moments reviewing economic history understands this basic fact: tariffs inhibit international commerce and raise the cost of goods and services to consumers. The infamous Smoot-Hawley Act of 1930, intended to protect American jobs, had the reverse effect.

By slapping tariffs on imported goods, it touched off an international trade war that plunged us into a world-wide depression..