5 seats lost

EMILY J. BLANCHARDDartmouth College - Tuck School of Business
Email: 
CHAD P. BOWNPeterson Institute for International Economics
Email: 
DAVIN CHORDartmouth College - Tuck School of Business, National University of Singapore (NUS) - Department of Economics
Email: 
We find that Republican candidates lost support in the 2018 US congressional election in counties more exposed to trade retaliation, but saw no commensurate electoral gains from US tariff protection. The electoral losses were driven by retaliatory tariffs on agricultural products, and were only partially mitigated by the US agricultural subsidies announced in summer 2018. Republicans also fared worse in counties that had seen recent gains in health insurance coverage, affirming the importance of health care as an election issue. A counterfactual calculation suggests that the trade war (respectively, health care) can account for five (eight) of Republicans' lost House seats.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Bastiat versus Trump: opposition to free trade rests upon errors, or, if you prefer, upon half-truths.