Trump’s obsessive tariff propaganda, coupled with deregulation, mirrors the old policies that contributed to an American 1890s economic crisis… an exit from stability, opposite of any prosperity.
In the longer term, we can expect that a result of these policies will be the gradual decoupling of trade between the US and other countries. […] A bit like Brexit has made the EU extremely cautious about its long-term relationship with the UK, Trump’s presidency is likely to make allies, and others, much more wary about the nature of economic dependency on the US.
The severe economic decline during the 1890s, a ‘golden‘ time which Trump says he wants to go back to, was known as the ‘Great Depression’ until the 1930s crisis took the title. America’s growth in fact had been driven mainly by immigration (which includes innovation, with ideas frequently introduced by those arriving) during industrialization, and then it was hurt by tariffs.
So, immigration good. Got it. Trump wants to end that. Tariffs bad. Trump wants to start that. Why then…?
Let’s take a closer look. The economic catastrophe of the 1890s stands as a stark testament to the fragility of unregulated markets and the devastating impact of protectionist policies. What began as a financial tremor quickly cascaded into one of the most severe economic collapses in American history. The numbers give a devastating story: GDP per capita plummeted from $6,400 to $5,500 in contemporary terms, while unemployment soared to a staggering 20% of the workforce. The banking sector was particularly ravaged, with more than 800 institutions failing in rapid succession.
Perhaps most emblematic of the era’s collapse was the railway industry, the very backbone of American industrial might, where over 150 companies fell into bankruptcy. To put this devastation in perspective, consider that today’s GDP per capita stands at $68,977 – more than ten times the wealth of that supposedly ‘golden‘ age.
This was not merely a recession under tariffs; it was a systemic failure that exposed the fundamental weaknesses and oppressive nature of America’s Gilded Age economy.
The McKinley Tariff of 1890 serves as a particular cautionary tale in American economic history, demonstrating the political peril of protectionist policies. The legislation’s impact was swift and severe, driving up consumer prices across the nation and sparking a fierce electoral backlash. The political consequences were nothing short of catastrophic for the Republican Party, which suffered a stunning loss of 78 House seats in the 1890 midterms – a repudiation so complete that even the tariff’s namesake, William McKinley himself, was swept from office.
The American public’s verdict on high tariffs was unequivocal: the Democrats seized control in 1892 and promptly dismantled the protectionist framework. When the Republicans later attempted to resurrect high tariffs, history repeated itself with remarkable precision – the party again faced electoral devastation, losing both the House and ultimately the presidency to Woodrow Wilson by 1912.
This cycle of tariff implementation and voter rejection demonstrates a clear pattern: Americans consistently rejected economic policies that raised their cost of living to benefit elitist interests.
The complete absence of meaningful business regulation in the 1890s also was characterized by a Wild West of corporate malfeasance that ultimately proved catastrophic for the American economy. The collapse of the National Cordage Company in 1893 perfectly illustrates the dangers of this regulatory vacuum. This rope-making trust, controlling 90% of the American market, operated with virtually no oversight or transparency requirements. While publicly claiming $4 million in liquid assets, the company’s actual cash reserves had dwindled to a mere $100,000 – a deception that would be impossible under modern securities laws. When National Cordage abruptly declared bankruptcy on May 5, 1893, it triggered a stock market crash that an editorial in Commercial and Financial Chronicle on 6 May 1893 reported as ‘Cordage has collapsed like a bursted meteor,’ illuminating the broader systemic risks of unregulated capitalism. Only the company’s president and treasurer knew of its dire financial condition, exemplifying how the era’s lack of mandatory financial disclosures and oversight enabled corporate leaders to operate essentially as economic warlords, their empires built on foundations of opacity and deception.
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday stating that only the “President and the Attorney General shall provide authoritative interpretations of the law for the executive branch.”
How very National Cordage of him.
Hopefully it is abundantly clear, without even going on further, how Trump’s ongoing fraudulent show-boating and gloating about the 1890s appears either to be severely misrepresenting the historical reality to fool people into pulling the country into a huge depression, or foolishly pushing people into depression, or both. It just may be that Trump wants to bring catastrophe so much he’s willing to brazenly lie his way into it. Again, why then…?
Trump has repeatedly made the false claim that America was ‘at its richest’ during the high-tariff period of 1870-1913 even though it is not supported by any economic data – and it’s trivial to see that GDP per capita is over ten times higher today. Moreover, basic economics tells us his tariffs in reality are a tax, typically paid by those importing goods and passed on to consumers. Americans will be hit with higher taxes, to put it simply. Since none of that makes any sense for a policy in 2025, like most of the things Trump emits as a provocation to disagree, there’s something far more sinister to report under the glib covers of economic posturing.
The period that Trump says he loves the most appears more relevant to his long-term interests because of its racist violent nativist movements (America First), implementation of exclusionary immigration policies like the Chinese Exclusion Act, Jim Crow laws with lynchings and militant segregation, absence of safety regulations causing widespread harms including deaths, mass worker exploitation and … drum roll please … huge wealth inequality during the Gilded Age. Back in those days, a Trump would have just said his real objectives more plainly instead of spinning propaganda to mislead everyone about economic policy:
