Peddling Protectionism: Smoot-Hawley and the Great Depression/Trade Policy Disaster: Lessons from the 1930s

摘要

The Great Depression has long been a focus of economists' research. Until the Great Recession that started in 2007, however, it was generally believed that understanding the determinants of the level of output and employment had improved enough so that it would never happen again. Starting in 2007, however, what had been of interest primarily to economic historians and macroeconomists became central to discussions of policy alternatives. One key question is the role of protectionist and other international economic policies in bringing about and/or intensifying the Great Depression.