President Trump has proclaimed himself a Tariff Man. With apologies to Billy Joel, I suggest we respond in song.<\/b>
\nFILE — In this Aug. 28,2018, file photo, President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, Aug. 28,2018, in Washington. President Trump will travel to North Carolina on Friday, Aug. 31, to campaign for GOP congressional candidates in two highly competitive districts. (AP Photo\/Evan Vucci, File) ASSOCIATED PRESS
…. I am a Tariff Man. When people or countries come in to raid the great wealth of our Nation, I want them to pay for the privilege of doing so. It will always be the best way to max out our economic power. We are right now taking in $billions in Tariffs. MAKE AMERICA RICH AGAIN
\u2014 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 4,2018
(With apologies to Billy Joel)
I t’s nine o’clock on a Saturday
Your iPhone is glowing and bright
There’s an old man up Washington
Watching cable news into the night.
He says, «Let’s make America Great Again!
By slapping a tariff on steel\u2014
And aluminum bars and on Japanese cars
Now, let’s make those foreigners kneel!»
La la la, di da da
La la, di da dum
So jack up that tax, you’re a Tariff Man!
Let\u2019s make Americans pay
For the right to buy stuff from those foreigners—
We should make it here, anyway!
We grow lots of sugar in Florida
That we could\u2019ve shipped from abroad
If it\u2019s world price times three, grow it domestically
And make special interests applaud!
And the tariffs raise prices everywhere
And the jobs that they \u201csave\u201d cost a ton
We\u2019d be better off if we didn\u2019t scoff
At free trade, and just let things run!
La la la, di da da
La la, di da dum
Now Paul is a real estate contractor
He\u2019d like to buy things for his wife
But he canceled a deal because structural steel\u2019s
More expensive\u2014it\u2019s doubled in price!
And the firms are all practicing politics
As their businessmen fly to DC!
Yes, they\u2019re spreading a problem called poverty,
And calling it prosperity!
Jack up that tax, you’re a Tariff Man!
Let\u2019s make Americans pay
For the right to buy stuff from those foreigners—
We should make it here, anyway!
These policies concentrate benefits
And they spread costs to you and to me
These costs are concealed, but see, they are still real\u2014
They are there, though they\u2019re harder to see.
Some goods are expensive that shouldn\u2019t be
Because tariffs have made them cost more!
And we\u2019d have more for bars, and put bread in their jars
But we\u2019re stopping goods at our shores!
La la la, di da da
La la, di da dum
Jack up that tax, you’re a Tariff Man!
Let\u2019s make Americans pay
For the right to buy stuff from those foreigners—
We should make it here, anyway!
I’m an Associate Professor of Economics at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, a Research Fellow with the Oakland, California-based Independent Institute, a Senior Fellow with the Beacon Center of Tennessee, and a Senior Research Fellow with the Institute for Faith, W…
Art Carden teaches economics at Samford University’s Brock School of Business.<\/p>\n