I’m skeptical that tariffs made America great, and Hamilton was a big-gov’t liberal.
What really made America great was that we had a massive untapped frontier to grow into ... and the ingenuity to tap it productively.
I agree.
Taxes make America Great?
High import tariffs worked well for America for it’s first 180 years. It was a mistake to abandon them.
Low tariffs with trading partners that are equal in wages and social structure like Europe can make both countries marginally wealthier but the downside is they become economically entangled and dependent on each other. Washington warned us about unneccessary foreign entanglements.
Low tariffs with third world countries that have lots of unemployment, simply offshores our industries and jobs to those third world countries. Resulting in higher unemployment here, the loss of industries and associated jobs, and again results in unnecessary entanglement. It lowers prices to consumers but it results in unemployed Americans so it has multiple negative effects.
High import tariffs worked well for America for it’s first 180 years. It was a mistake to abandon them.
Low tariffs with trading partners that are equal in wages and social structure like Europe can make both countries marginally wealthier but the downside is they become economically entangled and dependent on each other. Washington warned us about unneccessary foreign entanglements.
Low tariffs with third world countries that have lots of unemployment, simply offshores our industries and jobs to those third world countries. Resulting in higher unemployment here, the loss of industries and associated jobs, and again results in unnecessary entanglement. It lowers prices to consumers but it results in unemployed Americans so it has multiple negative effects.
“I’m skeptical that tariffs made America great, and Hamilton was a big-gov’t liberal.”
Are you skeptical of the statistics?
Northern industrialists feared the Southern slave owners would one day build factories and man them with slaves, which was probably true. They knew they could not compete with slave labor. That was the main reason the Civil War was orchestrated.
Of course that motive was hidden away by historians, and replaced with the idealistic stuff everyone chants now.
There is a reason mobile phones are made in China by American companies. Cheaper labor. Huge number of jobs that could be here.
hamilton was a high federalist, but you get a big F- in history, too.
how can you call a guy a big gov’t liberal when he predated government? you’re committing a howler of chronological error, and you’re also saying something that’s really just stupid when properly placed back into it’s historical context.
I agree. Hamilton was a big government federalist who looked to mix the US in the affairs of Britain.
They paid for the whole of federal government for the first 140 years or so.
There was no income tax until just 100 years ago because of tariffs making them unnecessary.
America grew in wealth and size like a weed on steroids because of tariffs.