Tariffs are already roiling markets, signaling a seismic shift in U.S. economic and trade policy. And according to renowned economist Douglas A. Irwin, that shift will do more harm than good. Irwin, the John French Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College, was the speaker at UHart’s 2025 Deeds Symposium on March 27, hosted by the College of Arts and Sciences.
The title of his discussion, in front of a lively crowd in Wilde Auditorium, was “Trump, Tariffs, and Trade: What’s at Stake?”—and Irwin was unequivocal that what’s at stake is nothing less than the health of the economy.
Irwin said the ripple effects of the tariffs will hike prices on a wide range of goods, as other countries institute retaliatory tariffs of their own. Products from bourbon to motorcycles to avocados would be more expensive and therefore more scarce, he said—illustrating the point by tossing avocados into the audience. Read more.