Happy Birthday Smoot-Hawley!

Tomorrow is the 76th birthday of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff. President Hoover signed the bill into law on June 17, 1930. The president ignored the pleas of over 1,000 economists urging him not to sign the tariff.
By the way, today is the 76th anniversary of the stock market crashing 8%–one of the worst days in history. I wonder if there’s some sort of connection.
Incidentally, also on this day in 1930, the Braves traded veteran spitballer Burleigh Grimes to the St. Louis Cardinals. At the time, the Cards were in fourth place, but Grimes’ pitching helped them rally to win the pennant. His name lives on in the form of a widely panned musical comedy about the stock market.

Posted by on June 16th, 2006 at 10:45 am


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