For all that orthodox economists hate tariffs in all their forms, the question, "do tariffs work?" is a complex one, which can't be answered unless you specify which tariffs, in what context:
Pluralistic: What’s wrong with tariffs (02 Apr 2025) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
It's not that the Republicans and the Democrats are the same…obviously. But for decades – since Clinton – the Dems have sided with neoliberal economics, just like their Republican counterparts, so the major differences between the two related to overt discrimination, to the exclusion of the economic policies that immiserated working people, with the worst effects landing on racial minorities, women, and gender minorities.
Pluralistic: All (antitrust) politics are local (02 Sep 2025) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
The US government has abandoned antitrust. Today, companies facing antitrust jeopardy can just pay key Trumpland figures a million bucks, and they will make a discreet visit to the fifth floor of the DoJ building, have a little shoofty around the Antitrust Division and the whole thing will just…go away:
Pluralistic: Metabolizing the theory of “political capitalism” (06 Dec 2025) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
It's a strange fact that the more sophisticated and polished a theory gets, the simpler it tends to be. New theories tend to be inspired by a confluence of many factors, and early attempts to express the theory will seek to enumerate and connect everything that seems related, which is a lot.
Ce sont les consommateurs américains, non les étrangers, qui payent les droits de douane de Trump
traduction française du billet de blog "How goes the trade war? Consumers, not foreigners, are paying the Trump tariffs" de Paul Krugman
Trump’s tariffs: Disregarding lessons from history and scenarios and probable outcomes
History is full of evidence that tariffs harm economic performance. This column assesses the two waves of globalisation in modern history and how they were interrupted by barriers to trade. The first wave started in the mid-19th century and lasted until WWI, while the second wave started after WWII and lasted until the Global Crisis of 2008-09. The most likely scenario going forward will feature tariffs around 12-14% on average, a mild recession, and a small hit to US longer-run potential. However, achieving diplomatic normalcy may take years of good US behaviour, and it is unlikely during the Trump administration.
Qui paie les droits de douane de l’administration Trump ?
Traduction française du billet de blog "Who pays for tariffs? Insights from recent research" de Kimberly Clausing & Maurice Obstfeld (PIIE)
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Thoughts on the Trump Tariffs - Conversable Economist
It will take some time for the effects of President Trump's "Liberation Day" announcement of higher US tariffs to become apparent. Here, I'll just offer some notes and quick reactions. 1) The announced tariffs represent a very large increase. Here's a figure showing historical US tariff rates. You will notice that the average rates have
Grâce à Trump, nous savons qui supporte les droits de douane
Traduction du billet de blog "Who pays tariffs? And how do we know?" de Paul Krugman
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The bazooka diplomacy of Trump’s tariffs
President Trump’s recent pronouncements on tariffs have received considerable attention from analysts, policymakers, and commentators. This column takes a step back and considers some of the broader arguments for raising tariffs – revenue, restriction, and reciprocity – and the potential repercussions. Even if Trump does not proceed with (all of) the announced tariffs, the increased uncertainty is likely to put off firms from trading with or from the US, lowering US exports and imports beyond the imposition of higher tariffs. In the longer term, we can expect a gradual decoupling of trade between the US and other countries.
annotations: Des droits de douane sur toutes les importations américaines provoqueraient un chaos pour les entreprises
Traduction du billet de blog "Tariffs on all imports would create chaos for business" de Wendy Edelberg & Maurice Obstfeld (PIIE)
Les « droits de douane optimaux » sont loin d'être optimaux
Traduction française du billet de blog « "Optimal tariffs" are far from optimal: Part 1 » de Kimberly Clausing & Maurice Obstfeld (PIIE)
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Economists on the Run
Paul Krugman and other mainstream trade experts are now admitting that they were wrong about globalization: It hurt American workers far more than they thought…
annotations: Ce que les populistes ne comprennent pas à propos des tarifs douaniers
Traduction française du billet de blog "What populists don't understand about tariffs (but economists do)" de Kimberly Clausing & Maurice Obstfeld
The Failed Assumptions of Free Trade - The Sling
It is neoliberal economists who are wrong about the economics of trade. Economics textbooks and popular work by economists typically hide the unrealistic assumptions that are required to conclude that free trade as practiced by the United States is a beneficial policy overall, meaning that it is welfare-improving.
Pluralistic: Capital formation (14 Aug 2026) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
Funny thing about competition: there's both a pro-market and an anti-market case for a competitive system. https://pluralistic.net/2026/08/13/one-chokable-throat/#too-clever-by-half
Pluralistic: Goodhart’s Law vs “prediction markets” (24 Mar 2026) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
The most selectively believed-in verse in the conservative catechism is the idea that "incentives matter."