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Clyde, I am sorry about your poor college economics classes. Fortunately at Berkeley and U of Chicago we received a much richer understanding of trade. You quoted Lincoln saying “I don’t know much about tariffs, but I know this: If we buy the steel from Britain, the British get the money and we get the steel. If we buy it here in America, we get the money and the steel.” He forgot to add that the "money" was needed to buy what the workers producing steel where no longer able to produce. People trade when it make them both better off win-win. When "Buy American" is forced, thus reducing trade it is lose-lose. When trade is restricted the reallocated production is almost always lower thus world output is reduced.

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