Economists were wrong about tariffs. They need to figure out why.

Matthew Lynn is a financial columnist and author. He writes for the Daily Telegraph and the Spectator in London.

Inflation would surge. Supply chains would crash. And the economy would be plunged into a deep recession while the stock market tanked. When President Donald Trump imposed huge tariffs on imports in April, the mainstream economic establishment and the big forecasters on Wall Street were virtually united on one point: The tariffs would trigger stagflation, at best, and a deep slump, at worst. It sounded like life would resemble a post-apocalypse Netflix series, with survivors dodging zombies and fighting one another for the last few items at the mall.