By Connor O’Keeffe

The stock market experienced a sharp drop last week and earlier this week after President Trump announced he was implementing a number of new tariffs that were higher than most market analysts had been expecting. The dramatic sell-off led many politicians, pundits, and financial firms to declare it more likely than not that a recession will kick off this year.

Some of the president’s supporters countered by pointing out, correctly, that the stock market does not necessarily represent the economy as a whole. But most senior figures in the administration and high-profile defenders of Trump’s agenda concede that their trade policy could indeed cause a period of economic pain. They argue that it is necessary for the president to lead the country through a period of short-term pain if we are ever going to see meaningful structural improvements in our economy.

That is a remarkably and refreshingly honest position for a presidential administration to have. And it’s true. Unfortunately, the president’s team has adopted this position to justify their dramatic........

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