Adam Smith taught us that trade is not a zero-sum game 250 years ago. Trump may not have read his Wealth of Nations, but the rest of the world now must, says James Price

Much ink has been spilled over Trump’s tariffs in the past few weeks. At a glance, the bear case is that the structure of the global economy just changed, and therefore the real price of assets is unknowable, and investors should sell. And the bull case? Buy when others are fearful, trust the US will get a load of deals on reciprocal tariff reductions and stocks come roaring back.

But those of us with less skin in the immediate game, would do well to copy the shadow leader of the House of Commons, Jesse Norman MP, and look backwards to history to glean some understanding of what might happen as a result of these moves. A biographer of Adam Smith, Norman reiterates Smith’s case in favour of........

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