As I discussed earlier, bank capital provided a buffer which helped to protect deposits in the three cases of bank failure which have occurred in recent years.
More generally, any significant elevation of tariffs that substantially reduces our overall imports, by keeping out competitively priced goods, would materially lower our standard of living. A return to protectionism would threaten the continuation of much of the extraordinary growth in living standards worldwide, but especially in the United States, that is due importantly to the post-World War II opening of global markets.