Douglas Irwin
@douglasirwin.bsky.social
Trade/economic history @Dartmouth College @Peterson Institute for International Economics Website: https://sites.dartmouth.edu/dirwin/
Now on Early View: 'Trade disruptions and early US industrialization'. By Joseph H. Davis & Douglas A. Irwin. @douglasirwin.bsky.social @nber.org #EHS100 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
<em>The Economic History Review</em> | EHS Journal | Wiley Online Library
Between 1807 and 1815, US imports of manufactured goods were slashed dramatically by a trade embargo, non-importation measures, and the War of 1812. These disruptions are commonly believed to have pr...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Antidumping and circumvention duties sometimes get crowded out in today's tariff-rich news environment but they are still around and, well, leading to some interesting outcomes... www.nytimes.com/2026/07/14/u...
Trump Paid $2 Million by South Korean Company Facing Trade Investigation
The payment illustrates the minefield Mr. Trump has created by maintaining personal financial ties with foreign businesses while he is in office.
nytimes.com
Most-favored nation treatment was long the foundation of world trade. Now the US and Europe say it fails to address security or fairness, or to restrain China. @douglasirwin.bsky.social weighs whether to lament or welcome its passing.
Why "Most Favored Nation" Is Losing Favor
The US and Europe say the nondiscrimination ideal fails to address security and fairness—and to restrain China.
thefreedomfrequency.org
As @alanbeattie.bsky.social notes, the administration likes to invoke history on its side but there are problems.... Trump’s contradictions mangle a complex history of US trade - giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @FT
Trump’s contradictions mangle a complex history of US trade
The president’s obsession with tariffs reflects a misreading of the past 250 years
giftarticle.ft.com
Industrial Policy Is Adapting to Crises, but Remains Hard to Implement Effectively www.imf.org/en/blogs/art...
Industrial Policy Is Adapting to Crises, but Remains Hard to Implement Effectively
As governments intervene more, evidence shows that the benefits are modest and depend on thoughtful design
imf.org
Some IMF skepticism about industrial policy, contra World Bank? Industrial Policy Is Adapting to Crises, but Remains Hard to Implement Effectively www.imf.org/en/blogs/art...
Industrial Policy Is Adapting to Crises, but Remains Hard to Implement Effectively
As governments intervene more, evidence shows that the benefits are modest and depend on thoughtful design
imf.org
"Don't expect anything big, and don't expect it to happen fast.” @dartmouthecon.bsky.social professor @douglasirwin.bsky.social discussed the long-term outlook for U.S. tariffs during a panel at the 13th Asian Monetary Policy Forum in Singapore.
Central banks need ‘heightened vigilance’ over risks amid Middle East conflict: MAS chief economist
Risks are greater for small open economies, with energy prices affecting costs and wages more quickly, he says Read more at The Business Times.
businesstimes.com.sg
Very cool paper that uses Clashing over Commerce for exogenous tariff variation to identify the impact of tariff shocks on economic outcomes.... definitely worth a look!
NBER@nber.org · 3mo agoUsing 180 years of US data to show that tariff increases reduce imports, output, and manufacturing, with effects operating through both supply and demand channels, from Tamar den Besten, Regis Barnichon, Diego R. Känzig, and Aayush Singh www.nber.org/papers/w35102
As a long time fan of @economist.com going back to the last century, when James Callahan was PM (yes, that old!), it's a thrill to appear in print on their pages. Revised version of a web essay on the Supreme Court decision.
Kelvin's dictum, etched on the University of Chicago Social Science building: "when you cannot measure, your knowledge is meager and unsatisfactory." To which Jacob Viner replied,"And when you can measure, your knowledge is meager and unsatisfactory."
A super timely listen, @douglasirwin.bsky.social delivers a fantastic lecture, "Do Trump's Tariffs Make Sense?" as part of our #HayekLecture series. hope.econ.duke.edu/do-trumps-ta...
Do Trump's Tariffs Make Sense?
hope.econ.duke.edu
We need to make @douglasirwin.bsky.social's books required reading for schoolchildren and presidents.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 7mo agoTrump: "After that you had a depression but that was a long time. That was in, like, 1913 you had the tariff switched into income tax. And then in 19-- and they like to blame tariffs. You ever notice? They brought tariffs back in 1932 to try to save the sucker. But it was in 1929."
My thoughts on the Supreme Court decision in The Economist: www.economist.com/by-invitatio...
The Supreme Court tariffs ruling reins in Donald Trump
Even if he has ways to rebuild trade barriers, writes Douglas Irwin
economist.com
Just a friendly reminder that the anti dumping process continues to churn out high tariffs beyond Trump's reciprocal tariffs ... www.wsj.com/world/europe...
Italian Pasta Is Poised to Disappear From American Grocery Shelves
The Trump administration is set to impose duties of 107% on Italian pasta imports, among most punitive of the tariffs it has levied.
wsj.com
In about an hour, you can listen to the Supreme Court oral arguments in the IEEPA tariff cases here: www.supremecourt.gov/oral_argumen... I doubt we'll hear anything new and interesting in the parties' arguments, but if the justices ask anything that seems worth noting, I'll try to note it here.
"In countless speeches, radio addresses, and policy actions, Reagan assailed the costs of protection and hailed the virtues of free trade.” Economics professor @douglasirwin.bsky.social shows how President Trump is rebranding Reagan’s free trade legacy in an opinion piece in the @nytimes.com.
Opinion | The Canadians Are Right About Reagan and Free Trade
nytimes.com
"Economic integration was once considered a threat to sovereignty. Today it has become its shield." www.economist.com/finance-and-...
The new globalisation paradox
In the age of Donald Trump, national autonomy requires deeper integration. Brazil shows why
economist.com
Excellent piece from @douglasirwin.bsky.social Reagan: "We should beware of the demagogues who are ready to declare a trade war against our friends — weakening our economy, our national security and the entire free world — all while cynically waving the American flag www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/o...
Opinion | The Canadians Are Right About Reagan and Free Trade
nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/o... Want to understand Reagan's trade policies? You have to understand the three P's: principles, pragmatism, and politics....
Opinion | The Canadians Are Right About Reagan and Free Trade
nytimes.com
On 2, check out Clashing over Commerce by @douglasirwin.bsky.social at p 574, quoting administration adviser Bill Niskanen: The Reagan administration's strategy was "to build a five-foot trade wall in order to deter a ten-foot wall [that would have been] established by Congress."
Anne Krueger political economy of the rent seeking society in action in Argentina
"Openness is a driver of growth." New Nobel laureate in economics Philippe Aghion is pro-trade and anti-tariff . . . go figure!
"The responsibility of economic historians is to remind the world what things were like before 1800. Growth was imperceptibly slow, and the vast bulk of the population was so poor that a harvest failure would kill millions." - Joel Mokyr www.wsj.com/articles/joe...
Joel Mokyr: What Today's Economic Gloomsayers Are Missing
In The Wall Street Journal, Joel Mokyr writes that science is enabling invention like never before and in ways that will improve life but isn't captured by GDP statistics.
wsj.com
📢CFP Tariffs and Trade Policy: Past, Present, & Future @ncsu: Dec 5, 6, 7 (am) Due: Sept 30 tinyurl.com/2stm2fk7 Papers: 8 + Discuss Keynote: @douglasirwin.bsky.social Panel: Chad Bown +TBD Sponsor: @NSF NEW TARIFF DATABASE 1789-2025 Funding: Flight+Hotel+Food (presenter/discussant)
