50 percent tariff against Canada in a move that Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman notes is not only “almost surely illegal,” but is the same “terrible mistake” that pushed the U.S. into the Great Depression. Krugman argues that “this really is a temper tantrum, in the sense that there’s no strategy here. The new tariffs will hurt American consumers, and nobody expects them to extract any concessions from Canadians who are only getting more outraged at the United States.” What’s more, argues Krugman, it degrades the U.S. relationship with vital partners. As he writes, “Canada should be, and used to be, America’s greatest friend in the world. We share essential political and moral values with our northern neighbor. For the most part we even share a common language, eh? And Canadians viewed us very favorably until Trump began his tariffs and threats. Now we’re viewed less favorably than China.” Based on all this, Krugman’s conclusion is grim: “I don’t see a golden age. I see an America that has become an ineffectual bully, sicker, poorer, and riven by political extremism, with no friends anywhere in the world.”