Trump's trade war reminds Morgan Stanley of a dispute that worsened the Great Depression - and the firm is sounding the alarm on an economic meltdown
- With President Donald Trump's trade war ramping up further, Morgan Stanley just said the US's protectionist behavior reminded it of the conditions surrounding the Great Depression.
- Morgan Stanley is also worried about how the trade war will affect foreign direct investment, a slowdown in which could crush global economic growth.
President Donald Trump's latest attempt to strong-arm China appeared to fail Thursday, as the nation's Ministry of Commerce dismissed his threats as a "carrot and stick" tactic.
The latest back-and-forth weighed on markets globally and renewed concerns that the struggle would become a huge drag on economic growth worldwide.
Morgan Stanley, one of many global financial leaders warning of the potential for fallout, went as far as to evoke the Great Depression in a recent note to clients. The protectionist culture permeating trade behavior reminds the firm of the downward spiral that worsened the massive economic meltdown that rocked the US economy almost a century ago.
The story goes like this: Following World War I, the US raised duties on agricultural products in response to a steep decline in exports. That tariff then spurred what Morgan Stanley calls an "avalanche of protectionist punches and counter-punches," which created a more insular international situation ahead of the Great Depression in 1929.
Then, in 1930, the US enacted the Smoot-Hawley Act, which raised tariffs on more than 20,000 imported goods. The measure is widely seen as ...
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