The Trump tariff turmoil is a teaching moment. That’s a sliver of silver — nickel? — lining to the dark economic clouds gathering.

There are no economic policies without tradeoffs.

Canadians were reminded of that during recent years. A pandemic causes an economic collapse, so massive government stimulus is unleashed. Deficit-financed government spending at such scale is likely to cause inflation. Dealing with inflation requires higher interest rates. Higher interest rates reduce demand and investment, risking an economic slowdown.