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Analysis of census data reveals that the size of the average factory in the United States grew more rapidly during the 1870s and 1880s than during any subsequent decade through the 1920s. While the average factory doubled in size between 1869 and 1889, it increased by only about a quarter between 1899 and 1929. These results support the view that the reaping of economies of scale was not an important motive for the great merger wave.

Strange as it seems, the infamous Smoot-Hawley Tariff might have had an expansionary effect on the U.S. economy. Basic macroeconomic principles indicate that the direct effect of a tariff increase is expansionary. This expansionary effect might be offset by retaliatory increases in foreign tariffs. Barry Eichengreen has recently questioned whether significant retaliation to Smoot-Hawley occurred. This article demonstrates that the tariff increases enacted during 1930 in Canada—the largest trading partner of the United States—were in direct response to Smoot-Hawley. The conventional wisdom that Smoot-Hawley hurt the U.S. economy may be right after all.

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