In Andrew Leigh’s newly published book “How Economics Explains the World“, we can read some interesting and instructive things about tariffs. The book was published in 2024 under the original title “The Shortest History of Economics.” Claudia Goldin, the Nobel Prize winner for Economics 2023, advertises it as: “If you read just one book about economics, make it this clear, insightful, and remarkable work.” So what can we read there?
"Tariffs were easy to administer and good for the government budget, but bad for the economy as a whole. Tariffs have been likened to a country impeding shipping by putting rocks in its own harbours."
Andrew Leigh
Author
In his book, Andrew Leigh describes the impact of tariffs on the global economy, especially in the 1930s. He explains how implementing trade and immigration barriers led to adverse economic developments that exacerbated the world economic crisis. According to Leigh, the protectionist measures.
