In Trump’s idealized framing, the United States was at its zenith in the Gilded Age, a time of rapid population growth and transformation from an agricultural economy toward a sprawling industrial system.
The desire to recreate that era is fueled by Trump’s fondness for tariffs and his admiration for the nation’s 25th president, William McKinley.
Though Trump’s early implementation of tariffs has been inconsistent — with him imposing them, then pulling many back — he has been steadfast in endorsing the idea of 21st century protectionism. There have even been suggestions that higher import tariffs on the country’s foreign trading partners could eventually replace the federal income tax.
Experts on the era say Trump is idealizing a time rife with government and business corruption, social turmoil and inequality. They argue he’s also dramatically overestimating the role tariffs played in stimulating an economy that grew mostly due to factors other than the U.S. raising taxes on imported goods.
And Gilded Age policies, they maintain, have virtually nothing to do with how trade works in a globalized, modern economy.
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