President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on March 04, 2025 in Washington, DC. President Trump was expected to address Congress on his early achievements of his presidency and his upcoming legislative agenda, Ben Stein Ferris Bueller’s Day Off - 1986

A scene fromJohn Hughes' classic 1986 teen comedy movieFerris Bueller’s Day Offis going viral amidDonald Trump’s tariff war.

Ben Stein in ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’.CBS via Getty

The movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”, written and directed by John Hughes. Seen here, Ben Stein as Economics Teacher. Initial theatrical release June 11, 1986. Screen capture.

CBS via Getty

The teacher continues his speech, ladened with fill-in-the-blanks that his class fails to answer.

“Passed the… Anyone? Anyone? The tariff bill. The Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act. Which… Anyone? Raised or lower? Raised tariffs in an effort to collect more revenue for the federal government. Did it work? Anyone? Anyone know the effects? It did not work, and the United States sank deeper into the Great Depression.”

According to theU.S. Senate website, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act was “among the most catastrophic acts in congressional history.” Hoover, at the time, proposed a “limited revision” of the tariff on agricultural imports to raise rates in an attempt to support struggling farmers.

As a result, trading partners raised their own tariffs which ultimately froze international trade. The actions reportedly destroyed Hoover’s reputation among other politicians, leading a majority of progressive Republicans to endorse Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was running against Hoover, during the following election.

An overwhelming majority of voters also turned the chambers over to the Democrats, effectively removing Hawley and Smoot from office.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on March 3, 2025 in Washington, D.C.Samuel Corum/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on March 3, 2025 in Washington, D.C.

Samuel Corum/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty

Fast-forward to now, and President Trump has announced that he is implementing a 25% additional tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico, and a 10% additional tariff on imports from China under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to address illegal migration and fentanyl trafficking, according to theWhite House website.

The high tariffs, the president hopes, will cause the neighboring countries to align with his policies.

The Associated Pressreported that Trump said the taxes on imports on Canada and Mexico would start on Tuesday, March 4.

Amid the news, people on social media have been recalling the famous movie scene. George Mason University Economics professor Vincent Geloso shared a clip of the fictional school lesson onXwith the caption, “Ferris Bueller is strikingly more instructive than 99.99% of political commentators on tariffs.”

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Another personnoted, “Apparently it is once again time to bring back the lesson on tariffs from Ferris Bueller…”

A thirdwrote, “Ferris Bueller’s econ lesson is a classic, still relevant today.”

source: people.com