Trade Policy Rupture | Steven Davis, Chad Bown, Doug Irwin | Hoover Institution

Steve queries Chad Bown and Doug Irwin about the rupture in U.S. trade policy under Trump 2.0, the economic consequences, and what it would take to restore confidence in the United States as a reliable trade partner.

Recorded on April 16, 2025.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Chad Bown is a Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, former Chief Economist for the U.S. State Department and the host of Trade Talks, a podcast about international trade and trade policy.

Douglas Irwin is Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College, Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute, and author of several books on trade and trade policy, including Clashing over Commerce: A History of U.S. Trade Policy and Free Trade Under Fire.

Steven Davis is the Thomas W. and Susan B. Ford Senior Fellow and Director of Research at the Hoover Institution, and Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR). He is a research associate of the NBER, IZA research fellow, elected fellow of the Society of Labor Economists, and consultant to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. He co-founded the Economic Policy Uncertainty project, the U.S. Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes, the Global Survey of Working Arrangements, the Survey of Business Uncertainty, and the Stock Market Jumps project. He also co-organizes the Asian Monetary Policy Forum, held annually in Singapore. Before joining Hoover, Davis was on the faculty at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, serving as both distinguished service professor and deputy dean of the faculty.

RELATED SOURCES:

• Trade Talks, a podcast with Chad P. Bown
• Clashing over Commerce: A History of U.S. Trade Policy by Douglas A. Irwin, 2017.
• Free Trade Under Fire, by Douglas A. Irwin 2020.
• Trump’s Trade War Timeline 2.0: An Up-to-Date Guide by Chad P. Bown.
• The Incoherent Case for Tariffs. Trump’s Fixation on Economic Coercion Will Subvert His Economic Goals by Chad P. Bown and Douglas A. Irwin, Foreign Affairs, 11 March 2025.
• Measuring Economic Policy Uncertainty by Scott R. Baker, Nick Bloom, and Steven J. Davis, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2016.

FOLLOW OUR GUEST ON THEIR PLATFORMS:

• Chad Bown's website
• Chad Bown on X: @ChadBown
• Douglas Irwin’s website
• Douglas Irwin on X: @D_A_Irwin