Meanings
- economicsAn economic policy that favors domestic interests at greater total cost to the economies of trading partners.
The traditional beggar-thy-neighbor view of older Keynesian models saw unilateral tariffs as having an expansionary effect on the domestic economy, due to their expenditure-switching effect, moving domestic demand away from foreign goods and towards domestic goods.
2025 May 28, Iván Werning, Guido Lorenzoni, Veronica Guerrieri, “Tariffs as Cost-Push Shocks: Implications for Optimal Monetary Policy”, in NBER Working Paper Series, number 33772, page 2Synonyms: protectionist, mercantilist
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveAn economic policy that favors domestic interests at greater total cost to the economies of trading partners.
Origin
From beggar-my-neighbor (“a card game”).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
beggar-thy-neighbor. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beggar-thy-neighbor
“beggar-thy-neighbor.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beggar-thy-neighbor. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “beggar-thy-neighbor,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/beggar-thy-neighbor.
Source: beggar-thy-neighbor on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.