
Everyone Believes the Same Lie
From Washington to Brussels to Beijing, politicians promise tariffs will "bring back jobs.
Trump. Biden. Marine Le Pen. They all agree on this.
They show you the factory that opens. The jobs "saved.
What they don't show you is what happens to the workers who actually lose.
The same logic as Juche. Just slightly less extreme.
But the truth is: tariffs are just taxes on American consumers.
When the US imposed tariffs in 2018, economists tracked what happened to prices.
The result? Complete pass-through. Import prices didn't fall to offset the tariff burden.
American consumers and businesses paid $51 billion extra.
Lower-income households felt it most. They spend a higher percentage of income on goods.
For Every Job "Saved," Multiple Jobs Were Lost.
Research tracking 1988 to 2016 found antidumping protection resulted in 1.8 million job losses.
Not in China. In American downstream industries.
Construction workers who need steel. Restaurants that need aluminum. Manufacturers who need parts.
The protected industries? No significant job gains. Zero.
Since the US Started Its Tariff War: An Estimated 500,000 Jobs Gone
Between 2018 and 2020, when the US ramped up protectionist policies, an estimated 500,000 American jobs were destroyed.
Why? Rising input costs crushed downstream industries. Retaliatory tariffs killed export sectors.
Real wages in tradeable sectors declined 1.0% on average.
The counties that voted most Republican? They got hit hardest by retaliation.
Politicians hide this data because it destroys their campaign promises.
Both parties agree on tariffs. Both parties are wrong.
Save this post so you can cite these studies next time someone claims tariffs "work.
The best part? We're just getting to why this matters for you personally.
Protectionism Doesn't Just Kill Jobs. It Kills Progress.
When industries get protection from competition, they stop innovating.
Why invest in better products when the government guarantees your market share?
American steel companies got decades of protection. They still can't compete globally.
Meanwhile, countries that embraced competition built industries that dominate world markets.
As Thomas Sowell said: there are no solutions, only trade-offs. The jobs "saved" come at the cost of jobs destroyed everywhere else.
Your Generation Will Pay for This Mistake.
Every protectionist policy creates a special interest group that fights to keep it forever.
The sugar industry. Steel manufacturers. Auto companies. They hire lobbyists. They fund campaigns.
They'll sacrifice your generation's prosperity to protect their subsidies.
Understanding how protectionism actually works isn't just academic. It's self-defense.
You need to recognize this pattern before it costs you a job, raises your rent, or destroys industries that don't exist yet.
You're Smarter Than This. But Are You Prepared to Prove It?
Knowing protectionism fails isn't enough when both parties are selling it.
You need frameworks. Evidence. Arguments that don't sound like you're reading from a political pamphlet.
That's why we created the College Survival Kit.
8 lessons on how to defend free markets without burning bridges or getting labeled.
👉
https://buff.ly/LjGGRwS
Thomas Sowell's method. Milton Friedman's evidence. Your language.
One Last Question: What's the strongest argument you've heard FOR protectionism?
Not the talking points. The actual economic logic someone tried to use.
Drop it in the comments. Let's workshop the best responses together.
Because the people pushing these policies aren't stupid. They're just optimizing for votes instead of outcomes.
And you deserve better arguments than "but China cheats.
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