A
protectionist policy involving the
devaluation of one's
currency and the construction of tariffs barriers on other countries. The goal of a beggar-thy-neighbor policy is to increase
demand for a country's
exports (by devaluing the currency and making a country's goods less
expensive in other countries) while also reducing demand for the countries
imports (by making them more expensive through the tariff barriers). A form of this policy, notably the tariff barrier, was implemented at the beginning of the Great Depression with almost no success. A beggar-thy-neighbor policy in the United States caused other countries to follow suit, resulting in a massive decrease in international trade. This made the Depression worse. See also:
Smoot-Hawley Act.