presidential blunders

Hey, here's a good idea. With the economy in trouble, let's play protectionism by raising import duties on agricultural and industrial goods. That's sure to help support American farming and numerous industries, right? Well, it didn't work in 1930 during the early days of the Great Depression. Although more than a thousand leading economists fought against this concept, President Herbert Hoover went ahead and signed such a measure: the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act. It was, after all, one of Hoover's campaign promises. But foreign backlash was swift. Other nation's raised tariffs on American goods in retaliation. At the precise time when the United States needed sales abroad, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act discouraged it. U.S. imports and exports tanked. The result was a deepening of the Great Depression. (Photo courtesy of the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum)