"When the Court strikes down a tariff, who should get their money back? The importer who submitted the duties to the government? Or people further down the line who may have borne the true economic burden of the tariffs?" @joethorndike.bsky.social asks.
Importers want tariff refunds. But if they already passed the costs on to consumers, should they get the money back in full?
That fight is back—and it has a 1936 precedent.
New for @TaxNotes:
www.taxnotes.com/featured-ana...
Not every famous Boston tax protest involved tea.
My latest is on the Liberty Riot of 1768: a dubious affidavit, street violence, and a boat burned on Boston Common.
www.taxnotes.com/tax-history-...
"You may find that these high tariffs that you like so much prove to be enormously unpopular, like most regressive taxes are unpopular," @joethorndike.bsky.social said. "And so at the end of the day, it can revive interest in progressive alternatives."
How about if I whine about the framing AND I believe that the EITC is a (crucial) spending program?
"To tax and to please, no more than to love and be wise, is not given to men."
--Edmund Burke
I feel like that should be engraved on the IRS building, right below the Oliver Wendell Holmes line about civilized society.
New episode of History Is Taxing:
www.buzzsprout.com/2593214/epis...
Americans don’t love taxes (does anyone?) but they have an even bigger issue with tax collectors.
Ah, yes, the invaluable wisdom of the markets.
I’ve heard it’s possible to win by losing but I’m not sure that’s what happened here
Will tariffs replace the income tax? Not likely.
The first in my new podcast series, History Is Taxing.
www.buzzsprout.com/2593214/epis...
I mean, seems unsurprising.
Seems bad
libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2026/02/who-...
Show logo for new podcast, "History Is Taxing"
Excited to share a new podcast I’m launching with my @taxnotes.com colleague Robert Goulder: “History Is Taxing!”
In each episode, we'll you give you the backstory on a major tax issue—from tariffs to taxpayer privacy to IRS reform.
Follow the show at taxnotes.co/historypodcast
So excited to be part of this new Tax Notes podcast. Coming soon!
Mamdani, Trump, and FDR: What that Oval Office photo misses about Roosevelt and his war on wealth
www.taxnotes.com/featured-ana...
When you live in such a tiny historiographical niche, can’t miss the chance to promote your 15 year old book.
Thanks, Kevin.
At the risk of some self-promotion…
amzn.to/4aoBmUt
Seems ironic/appropriate/illuminating that the GAO page explaining the Antideficiency Act and its role in government shutdowns is itself a victim of the government shutdown.
RIP to Dick “Deficits Don’t Matter” Cheney
As a matter of economics, still dubious. As a matter of politics, obviously and demonstrably true —so far.
Exactly. That whole article is full of dubious characterizations and half-facts. Really terrible.
Politico: “gas prices have fallen to levels not seen in decades.”
Really? I’d like to see the data behind this claim.
apple.news/AYXYDcb5tT3W...
I think this is probably wrong. As I argued here: www.taxnotes.com/tax-history-...
A careful study of every populist episode since 1900 finds catastrophic consequences, which play out slowly.
On average, incomes fall behind by nearly 15% over 15 years.
For the U.S., this is a cost of about $13k per person per year. Over a lifetime, that's million bucks.
today I am loving the UN Geneva Archives platform which hosts the complete League of Nations archives, digitised, entirely free
some archive digitisation programs are very clunky & hard to use, this is immaculate & has an incredibly user friendly interface + excellent metadata
I have a similar reaction to AI used for non-math functions. In history, for instance, it’s great for summarizing arguments and evidence — as long as the accuracy and reliability of those summaries aren’t important.
Super useful, for sure. Turns all of us from writers into fact checkers.
History suggests that tariff revenue won’t be so hard to quit.
So much for foreigners paying tariffs. If they did PPI would be falling. Wholesale prices up 3.3% from a year ago & 3.7% in the core. The temperature is definitely rising in the core. This implies a hot PCE reading lies ahead.
A ChatGPT fail for the historians out there
