Protectionism

The reaction of markets to the US trade deal with Japan shows yet again that if you presage bad news with even worse news you can make people pathetically grateful at the outcome. Shares in Toyota surged by 14 percent at the news. Yet why, when the deal will see imports of Japanese cars to the US slapped with tariffs of 15 percent? Because back on "Liberation Day" in April,  Donald Trump announced that Japanese imports would be subject to 24 percent tariffs. Reactions to Trump’s reset in trade relations with the rest of the world have undergone wild swings in recent months. First, markets plunged.

In the wake of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, gasoline and energy prices soared in the United States. While they’ve come down a bit since, it’s worth examining why war in Eastern Europe caused a spike in prices thousands of miles away — and whether a common proposal in response would have made a difference. Over the last decade, Republicans and Democrats have made “energy independence” a major policy priority. The goal in a nutshell is to produce the energy we need at home, so that the United States is more insulated economically from international disputes abroad. On this goal, advocates have made progress — in fact, the United States is already energy independent by some measures.

My father was born in 1948. He’s the same age as Jackson Browne: ’65 I was 17, ’69 I was 21. His plan was to graduate from his Western Pennsylvania public high school and join the Marine Corps. The local draft board came damn close to saving him the trouble of enlisting. But near the end of his high school career, it was discovered that his girlfriend was “in a family way.” His parents briefly floated the idea of obtaining an illegal abortion. Fortunately, my 17-year-old father, his soon-to-be in-laws, and his Episcopal priest (in those days such men could be depended upon) stood firm. He and his girlfriend were married. Soon after, my half-brother was born and my father enrolled in an apprenticeship program with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.