And indeed, if President Trump was the most protectionist president since World War II, President Biden was the second-most. Biden did not repeal very many of the Trump tariffs that were imposed in the first Trump term, and he didn’t reopen the Trans-Pacific Partnership that was the real answer to the problem of how we integrate China peacefully into the world trading system.
Biden, in many ways, was quite continuous with Trump on trade, and he was because there are people in the Democratic Party who wanted to be
As the Grateful Dead sings: you ain't gonna learn what do you don't want to know
I am not comparing Biden to Trump. I am comparing Biden to Bill Clinton on trade (and other issues). Biden was terrbile on trade and spending.
The American Rescuse Plan was a mistake. Just ask Larry Summers who predicted it.
Noah Smith:
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/how-americans-can-cease-being-rich
From David Frum just today in The Atlantic.
https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/archive/2025/05/david-frum-show-trumps-national-security-disaster/682868/
And indeed, if President Trump was the most protectionist president since World War II, President Biden was the second-most. Biden did not repeal very many of the Trump tariffs that were imposed in the first Trump term, and he didn’t reopen the Trans-Pacific Partnership that was the real answer to the problem of how we integrate China peacefully into the world trading system.
Biden, in many ways, was quite continuous with Trump on trade, and he was because there are people in the Democratic Party who wanted to be
As the Grateful Dead sings: you ain't gonna learn what do you don't want to know