Brian Crombie Radio Hour - Epi 1366 - Trump's Gilded Age and Tariffs with Lauren MacIvor Thompson

Brian interviews Professor Dr. Lauren MacIvor Thompson. Dr. Thompson is a historian and academic expert specializing in the U.S. Gilded Age—a period of rapid industrialization, economic inequality, and political corruption in the late 19th century. Her scholarship also includes in-depth research on the historical use of tariffs in American economic policy. Her work provides critical context for contemporary political rhetoric, including Donald Trump’s appeals to revive protectionist trade practices and aspects of the Gilded Age economic model. Trump says: "You know, our country was the strongest, believe it or not, from 1870 to 1913. You know why? It was all tariff-based. We had no income tax"... Do you know what happened between 1870 and 1913? There were two economic panics. Huge ones. Deep, scarring panics where many working people went hungry and jobless.