No. of Recommendations: 5
What will happen? The experts tell us that prices of imported goods will rise, fueling inflation.
So MAGA responds by saying we should impose tariffs.
But that's the point. Whether to impose tariffs is a political decision, that should be reached by democratic means through democratic institutions - not an "expert" choice. There are both pros and cons to tariffs. They cause the prices of imported goods to rise, which hurts consumers of those goods; but those higher prices for imported goods provide a benefit to domestic producers of those goods.
At the highest levels of abstraction, international trade drives down the prices of tradeable goods. That creates winners and losers in society. Those who are involved in the production of physical goods that are capable of being imported end up can end up worse off, because they are now subject to international competition that erodes their earning power. Those whose jobs are in areas that aren't exposed to global competition are much better off, because they get the benefit of cheaper tradable goods and are insulated from the downsides. Those who are producing goods where the U.S. has a competitive advantage in global markets (like agricultural products) also benefit.
Which makes the decision about whether to impose tariffs a political question, not an "experts" question. I happen to agree that imposing tariffs is a bad idea, but I acknowledge that it's certainly something that is to be resolved through political institutions, not left up to the experts.
Tariffs aren't really the issue that was the problem. I think Democrats have been good at treating that as a political question. Where they've been bad are three different issues: climate change, COVID responses, and to a lesser extent transgender issues. For all three, Democrats have acted as though (to some degree or another) the conclusions reached by experts foreclose political choices about tradeoffs, balancing the interests of different groups, and reaching policy decisions through political institutions rather than just "following the science." That once certain conclusions are reached by expert analysts that they decide policy choices, rather than just inform them.
