A scene from the classic movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” has gone viral as President Trump’s tariff war takes effect. The scene features students listening to their teacher explain the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, one of the most catastrophic bills in American history, now drawing comparisons to Trump’s tariff plan. “In 1930, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, in an effort to alleviate the effects of the…
Great Depression. Passed the… The tariff bill.
The Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act. Which… Raised tariffs in an effort to collect more revenue for the federal government. Did it work?…
It did not work, and the United States sank deeper into the Great Depression,” the teacher says in the movie. Although the teacher got the name slightly wrong, the historical references remain accurate. In 1929, the stock market crash devastated the economy.
Despite this collapse, Senator Reed Smoot and Representative Willis Hawley, both Republicans, continued to push for tariff hikes they had proposed when the economy was strong.
Bueller scene mirrors recent tariffs
President Herbert Hoover signed the raises into law in 1930.
Economists and historians agree that the dramatic tariff increase exacerbated the Great Depression. Politically, the aftermath marked the end of the Republican era. Franklin D.
Roosevelt won overwhelmingly in 1932, bringing in the New Deal, which transformed the role of government. Smoot and Hawley lost their seats, and Republicans were out of power in the House and Senate until the 1946 elections and in the White House until 1952. On Monday night, Trump imposed 25 percent tariff hikes on both Mexico and Canada, along with an additional 10 percent tariff on China.
The stock market plummeted immediately following the announcement. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum both vowed to retaliate, officially starting the tariff war. “Because of the tariffs imposed by the U.S., Americans will pay more for groceries, gas, and cars, and potentially lose thousands of jobs,” Trudeau responded.
“Tariffs will disrupt an incredibly successful trading relationship.”
The relevance of the “Ferris Bueller” scene to current events has captured public imagination. “Quite frankly, any life situation can be broken down to the plot of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” one social media user posted. “I never thought in a million years a one-off scene in Ferris Bueller would ever be relevant to American politics in 2025,” another commented.
“But here we are.”