"Surely, even if their reasons were wrong, or misinformed, they *had* reasons. Surely there was some theory of the case."

Nope. Richest country in history, just fucked itself because it was bored, tired of peace & prosperity.

Imagine being a historian in 100 years, reading about the US imposing enormous tariffs that destroyed what little manufacturing remained, immiserated consumers, & isolated the US from int'l trade. They'll ask, "whyyyyyy?"

And there will literally be no answer! Trump felt like it. That's it.