Executive editor of the Libertarian Institute Sheldon Richman returns to the show to discuss Trump’s new tariffs on steel and aluminum. According to Richman the major damage of Trump’s tariffs will be felt by downstream producers and the disruption to the price system. Richman details how, contrary to popular belief, technology has increased factory output in the United States while reducing factory jobs—and that the Chinese, the Mexicans, etc. are scapegoats for useful idiots. Richman then tears apart the argument that trade deficits are a bad thing. His advice? “Read Bastiat.” Scott and Richman then elucidate how trade between people makes war much less likely.

Sheldon Richman is the executive editor of the Libertarian Institute and the author of America’s Counter-Revolution: The Constitution Revisited. Follow him on Twitter @SheldonRichman.

Discussed on the show:

• “Trump tariffs are not about national security or dumping,” by Steve Chapman (Chicago Tribune)
• “The US produces 40% more factory output today vs. 20 years ago with 5M fewer workers. Technology job theft?” by Mark Perry (AEI)
• “The Trump Tariffs Will Cost Americans Jobs,” by Veronique de Rugy (The New York Times)
• Cafe Hayek
• “TGIF: Trading Places,” by Sheldon Richman (Libertarian Institute)
• “That Which Is Seen, and That Which Is Not Seen,” by Claude Frédéric Bastiat (Mises Institute)
• The Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith
• Price System
• Wilson’s War: How Woodrow Wilson’s Great Blunder Led to Hitler, Lenin, Stalin, and World War II, by Jim Powell

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Zen Cash, The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; LibertyStickers.com; TheBumperSticker.com; and ExpandDesigns.com/Scott.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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