Tariffs & the Economy – How Intertwined Are They?

On October 8, Harvard Law School professor Mark Wu, a specialist in international trade law and policy, spoke with Harvard economics professor Jason Furman about the current state of tariff policy and its effects on the U.S. economy. In late summer 2025, Furman wrote an essay in The New York Times titled “The Tariffs Kicked In. The Sky Didn’t Fall. Were the Economists Wrong?” Given that imported goods account for 11% of GDP, Furman suggests that the complexities of the U.S. economy—its sheer size and momentum, range of sectors, behavior of businesses and consumers, and variety of factors that affect the stock market—may insulate the country to some degree from the shocks of such a dramatic shift in international trade policy. In assessing the actual effects of tariffs on the economy, he suggests that economists may suffer from “tariff derangement syndrome,” in which they find themselves disproportionately worked up every time tariffs are increased. This event is part of HLS Beyond, an initiative led by the Harvard Law School Library that offers workshops on cutting-edge topics and skills for life and lawyering, centered on Harvard Law students, but inclusive of the broader university community.