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The Political Power of Economic Ideas: Protectionism in Turn of the Century America

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  • Peter H. Bent

    (Research Fellow, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, and PhD Student, Department of Economics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst)

Abstract

One of the main economic debates taking place in late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century America was between supporters of protectionism and advocates of free-trade policies. Protectionists won this debate, as the 1897 Dingley Tariff raised tariff rates to record highs. An analysis of this outcome highlights the overlapping interests of Republican politicians and business groups. Both of these groups endorsed particular economic arguments in favour of protectionism. Contemporary studies by academic economists informed the debates surrounding protectionist policies at this time, and also analysed the impacts of these policies. Evidence from politicians, business owners, and economists provides a broad view of who favoured protectionist policies in turn-of-the-century America. This analysis also focuses on how the impacts of these policies were studied and presented in contemporary academic and public discourse.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter H. Bent, 2015. "The Political Power of Economic Ideas: Protectionism in Turn of the Century America," Economic Thought, World Economics Association, vol. 4(2), pages 1-68, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:wea:econth:v:4:y:2015:i:2:p:68
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    File URL: http://et.worldeconomicsassociation.org/files/WEA-ET-4-2-Bent.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Charles Beardsley, 1901. "The Tariff and the Trusts," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 15(3), pages 371-389.
    2. Romer, Christina, 1986. "Spurious Volatility in Historical Unemployment Data," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(1), pages 1-37, February.
    3. Roscoe R. Hess, 1911. "The Paper Industry in its Relation to Conservation and the Tariff," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 25(4), pages 650-681.
    4. Edward Atkinson, 1903. "Occupations in Their Relation to the Tariff," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 17(2), pages 280-292.
    5. Barry Eichengreen, 1986. "The Political Economy of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff," NBER Working Papers 2001, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. William Franklin Willoughby, 1901. "The Integration of Industry in the United States," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 16(1), pages 94-115.
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    Cited by:

    1. Bent, Peter H., 2020. "Recovery from financial crises in peripheral economies, 1870–1913," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).

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