But history has not been kind to major trade blunders. Just as the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 sparked a global trade war that may well have put the “great” in the Great Depression, Congressional enactment of enforceable currency rules today could spark retaliatory actions that might devastate the free flow of trade that a sluggish global economy desperately needs.
当然，指责别人永远比自我批评容易。但历史对于重大贸易错误向来绝不宽容。1930年斯穆特-霍利关税法（Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act）挑起了一场全球贸易战，大萧条之所以成为“大”，原因恐怕就在于此，而今天国会颁布强制性货币规则可能引起报复性措施，给停滞不前的全球经济所急需的贸易流造成灾难性打击。