Protectionist Trade Practices, Closed Borders, and Isolationism — Are these a 2018 Recipe to repeat the Disasters of 1929–1945?

Photo by Vladislav Klapin on Unsplash

I am researching the effect on the Great Depression of the protectionist tariffs instituted with the Smoot-Hawley Act and whether or not the newly established tariffs could have the same impact on the US economy in 2018.

Could the Great Recession of 2008 be a mirror of the Depression of 1920–1921 that occurred after World War I? In October 1929, the market lost 25% over two days, and in just the last week the market fell 22% on December 21, 2018, which is significant and could be foreshadowing the possibility of economic collapse.

History has an eerie way of repeating itself. I am concerned that the last time the country imploded financially was due to policies enacted between 1919 and 1929. In those years, we implemented immigration quotas which led to a rise in illegal immigration, instituted protectionist trade practices, and preached isolationism after bailing Europe out of World War I.

Photo by Bryce Barker on Unsplash

With the requirement of a border wall to prevent illegal immigration, the implementation of protectionist trade policies, and…