Well, howdy there, Internet people?

It's Bell again.

So today, we're going to talk about tariffs, Trump, and charts.

There's a chart that's going around about tariffs the U.S. has imposed in the past, and it's

prompted some questions.

So, we're going to go over what the chart shows and answer some questions,

because it doesn't actually show what's being implied when it's shared. If you want to see

the chart, there's a link down below. So the chart itself shows the percentage of U.S.

government revenue that tariffs made up historically. The chart itself shows the percentage of U.S. government revenue that tariffs made up historically.

The chart starts in 1798, with tariffs basically making up 100% of U.S. government revenue.

It generally stays above 80% until the 1860s.

You can see a few sharp drops here and there. That's more about the U.S. government getting increased revenue from other sources than lowering tariffs. Remember,

the chart is showing percentages. Then there's the big drop in the 1860s and the percentage raises but never

gets back up to the 80% range. Instead staying around in the area of 60 to 40%. Then it drops again around

1915 and never gets above 20% after that. Then it just drops in the

1940s, never to get above 5% again. Somehow this chart is being taken to show that the U.S.

could be wealthier if it imposed more tariffs.

It kind of shows the opposite.

Again, import tariffs are ultimately paid by the citizens of the country imposing them.

It raises prices.

But we might want to look at the periods of decline in percent.

It might give us a little insight.

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