The impact of protectionism is currently a contentious policyissue. This book evaluates the effects of protectionism on theBritish interwar economy. In contrast to most studies of the periodand the conclusions of orthodox economic theory, Kitson and Solomoushow that the introduction of the General Tariff in 1932 provided asubstantial stimulus to the domestic economy - a stimulus which canhelp to explain the trend improvement in British economic growth inthe 1930s. The authors show that the tariff made encouraging importsubstitution and macroeconomic expansion. The empirical evidence isexamined at two levels. First, a sectoral study shows that thenewly protected sector of the 1930s saw an improvement inperformance following the introduction of the tariff. Secondly, thelarge fall in manufacturing imports generated favourable effects onmacroeconomic performance by helping to reduce the importpropensity of the economy. The policy implication of this study isthat trade policies should be constructed in the contex