Q: How do you impoverish a country as punishment for their actions
A: You declare sanctions to prevent then from importing
Q: If you are at war how to cripple your enemy?
A: A naval blockade to prevent them from importing.
Q: How do you make yourself rich?
A: You place large tariffs to prevent imports….?
Placing tariffs is a lot like blockading your own ports and declaring sanctions on yourself. It is amazing just how many logical contradictions an individual mind contains, while we all know that if there are two apples and two apples there are four apples, we can at the same time know that 2+2=5. The contradiction is resolved by the fact your mind need not confront it in the first place.
Homo Economicish 