The threats of a global trade war have been looming over the past few months. Sparked by an EU attempt to lower the tariff on steel imports, they targeted American products such as peanut butter and bourbon. What sort of economic impact would a bourbon tariff have on exports to other countries? How does that trickle back into Bardstown, KY and the growing market? Does it even matter?  On this episode, we are joined by University of Louisville’s Economic Professors, Conor Lennon and Keith Teltser, to explain the intertwined global economy and the effect a tariff has from the bourbon producers to the grain suppliers.

Show Notes:

• How did you all get into bourbon?
• Explain what is a tariff?
• This all started as a retaliatory effort from the EU as an opposition to the US putting tariffs on imported steel. Can you give some more information to set the scene?
• Could this be a much ado about nothing?
• Could something actually never happen?
• Is big European growth even a target?
• Does the tariff even have an effect when you look at the abundance of the excise tax?
• When people say “Alright! More bourbon in America!” is that even a sentiment that should be encouraged? Or is that narrow-minded?
• What protection do you not like about Bourbon from a economist’s perspective?
• There isn’t a shortage of bourbon on the shelf. Are there other markets that haven’t been tapped?
• Who has the biggest dog in the fight? Brown-Forman with Jack Daniels?
• What are those other aspects we haven’t touched on that this impacts? Voters? Constituents?
• What other countries could remove their tariffs to bring more imported goods there?
• You all find the secondary market much more entertaining
• The academic work on bourbon prices over the last 3-4 years is on Conor’s site under the “Research” tab (direct link: https://tinyurl.com/yau4pn34).