With the arrival of Liberation Day III — August 1, the latest rather porous deadline for major new tariffs imposed on countries that don’t accept Donald Trump ’s demands for America-friendly “trade deals,” following the original Liberation Day on April 2 and a second set of announcements on July 7 that were largely paused — an ongoing debate among economists about the tariffs’ impact will certainly intensify. Very few trained economists have anything other than contempt for Trump’s underlying protectionist philosophy. But there are varied explanations for the relatively limited negative effects of the tariff program so far on consumer prices. Some cite the erratic nature of Trump’s policies, wherein he often seems to be digging holes only to fill them up, to the relief of edgy ma

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