ABSTRACT
It is first period of the school day, and the class of some 35 teenagers turn to their high school history teacher as he is about to begin his lecture:
In 1930, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives endeavored to alleviate the effects of the — Anyone? Anyone? — Great Depression. Pass the — Anyone? Anyone? — the tariff bill. The Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act, which — Anyone? Raised or lowered? — Raised tariffs in an effort to collect more revenues for the federal government. Did it work? Anyone? Anyone know the effects? It did not work and the United States sank deeper into the Great Depression. Today we have a similar debate over this. Anyone know what this is? Class? Anyone? Anyone? Anyone seen this before? The Laffer Curve. Anyone know what this says? It says that at this point on the revenue curve, you will get exactly the same revenue as at this point. This is very controversial. Anyone know what Vice-President Bush called this in 1980? Anyone? Something ‘D-O-O’ economics? Voodoo economics.
( Ferris Bueller's Day Off, 1986)