On April 30, 2025, the Center for Security Policy Studies-Korea (CSPS-Korea) welcomed Dr. Daniel Houser, Chair of the Department of Economics at George Mason University, as part of its ongoing Speaker Series.
Dr. Daniel Houser is the Director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science at George Mason University and a leading scholar in economics and neuroeconomics. His research has been widely published across top journals in economics, psychology, and neuroscience, and has been cited extensively across disciplines.
His talk, titled “Tariff Policy: A Public Discussion,” offered a clear and engaging overview of tariffs as both economic tools and instruments of political leverage. Dr. Houser explained how tariffs function to protect domestic industries by raising the cost of imports, ultimately impacting consumer prices and trade patterns.
He also explored how tariffs are used beyond economics—as strategic tools in international negotiations—and discussed their broader implications for national savings, trade balances, and investment flows. Challenging common assumptions, Dr. Houser pointed to long-term trends that suggest industrial strength has adapted rather than declined in the era of globalization.
Concluding with remarks on the legal and institutional limits of tariff authority, he underscored the importance of checks and balances in shaping responsible trade policy.
CSPS-Korea thanks Dr. Daniel Houser for his insightful contribution to the ongoing conversation on the economic and strategic dimensions of tariff policy.