ECONOMISTS OFTEN argue that trade wars cannot be won. Yet they will be among the few beneficiaries from America's barrage of tariffs. For decades, rich countries' sound trade policies denied academics cases of tit-for-tat protectionism to study. But new American taxes on many goods from China and metals from everywhere have produced the data set of their dreams. America's government seems unfazed by the damage its tariffs do to the economy. One study by scholars at the Federal Reserve and Princeton and Columbia Universities found that the new levies have raised costs for consumers by $1.4bn per month.
展开▼
