Oh! What a lovely trade war

[Bloomberg View]( A daily digest of opinions and analysis Actually, Mr. President, Trade Wars Are Impossible to Win Donald Trump makes strange claims all the time, but his latest pronouncements on trade deserve special recognition. The [Bloomberg View editorial board unpacks]( his dubious declaration that "trade wars are good, and easy to win." (Although, to be fair, [Michael Schuman notes]( that Trump's tariffs could have one unexpected beneficiary: China.) Trump's Protectionism Is Scarier Than George W. Bush's Back in 2002, the 43rd president supported steel tariffs as a bargaining chip to get lawmakers to support free trade more broadly. That's not the case today. [Ramesh Ponnuru says]( Trump is far more committed to protectionism than Congress is — a sign that he won't course-correct the way Bush did.  Economics Needs a Few More Theories The [empirical revolution]( in econ was (and is) great. But scholarship also needs conceptual grounding to prevent bias from distorting research. [Karl W. Smith argues]( that the field is now taking criticism of theory too far. How Unions Could Survive a Supreme Court Defeat [Samuel Estreicher says]( a high court decision on "fair-share" rules this spring could cripple organized labor. Here's a viable alternative. Ritholtz's Reads - Will active stock funds save your bacon in a downturn? ([Morningstar]() - How brain science found its way into business school ([Financial Times]() - Harvard blew $1 billion in bet on tomatoes, sugar and eucalyptus ([Bloomberg Businessweek]() (Read Barry Ritholtz's full daily news roundup [here](.) Bloomberg Gadfly - Trade wars aren't good ([for oil](, anyway) - [Gap's solid results]( have a soft underbelly - The good Donald, the bad Donald, and the [ugly market]( (Read more from BV's sister site for [fast business commentary](.) Bloomberg L.P. ● 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022 [Web]( ● [Facebook]( ● [Twitter]( [Feedback]( ● [Unsubscribe](