Brad Cartwright

Understanding Tariffs: Why Education Matters More Than Ever
April 2, 2025

Hey Everyone,

You might be thinking, wait a second—it’s Wednesday. Why am I sending his newsletter two days early?

Simple.

As the United States wakes up this morning, President Donald Trump is expected to make a major announcement about a new set of tariffs and trade policies. And if you’ve been following the news, you know this has already had a huge impact on the markets. 

The S&P 500 is down. 

The Dow Jones is down. 

The U.S. stock market just closed its worst quarter since 2022.  And anyone who has their retirement funds in the stock market is getting hit hard, as well.

And do you know what’s driving all of this?

Uncertainty and fear.

Uncertainty is one of the biggest threats to an economy—and it’s one of the biggest drivers of stress. 

And while we can’t eliminate it, we do have one powerful antidote:

Education.

Because when people are educated—when we understand how tariffs work, when we understand the economic mechanisms behind these headlines—we are far less likely to be manipulated by the noise.  We are less susceptible to misinformation, and we’re better equipped to think for ourselves.

And that, my friends, is why I’m writing to you today.

Let’s start with one simple fact…

A tariff is a tax placed on goods coming into a country. It’s a tax paid by the importers—in other words, people inside the country who are buying goods from outside. So if the U.S. government places a 25% tariff on imported cars, who pays that? The U.S. consumer. The person who wants to buy a car that happens to be made abroad.

There is no debate about this. 

It is an economic fact: tariffs raise prices domestically. 

If prices rise and stay high, that becomes inflation. And inflation, as we’ve all seen since COVID, is one of the most destructive forces in an economy—it erodes purchasing power, it hurts the most vulnerable, and it shakes consumer confidence.

And here’s the thing: this is not a political statement.

These are hard economic facts.

So as this news unfolds over the next few days, I thought why don’t I do some little part to empower people to think critically and make informed decisions, to combat misinformation, and straight up lies.

So I am.

For the next 48 hours, I’m offering my full IB Economics Global Economy for free—to anyone who wants to learn.   (It is normally $97.)  

Get lifetime access here:  The Global Economy

This is the full course. Not some watered-down version.  It’s the same one I built for IB Economics students and teachers. 

But it’s also for adult learners—people like you—who just want to better understand the world around them.

Here’s what’s inside:

• A full breakdown of Free Trade and Protectionism—including why countries use tariffs, subsidies, and quotas.
• Clear explanations of Exchange Rates and the Balance of Payments.
• And as a bonus, the full Development Economics unit—my personal favorite. It’s a powerful look at the challenges facing developing nations, the forces that shape global inequality, and the ways in which wealthier nations impact development—often unintentionally.

If you want to learn, or if you want to gift this course to someone else—you can. You’ll see a gift option at checkout. 

Send it to a friend, a sibling, a student, a spouse—anyone who wants to understand what’s really happening when politicians talk around the world. 

Because we’re all learning right now. 

The world is providing us with an incredible real-time lesson in economics.

As cheesy as it may sound, I mean it, the world is our classroom.

And it’s time to get the facts about economic theory.

Be good out there. 

Be kind to someone today, too.

And I’ll see you next week.

Brad