Neither Bill Clinton nor GW Bush (the Dumber) gave a rotten damn about the middle of the country. Ironically, Hamilton did, even before it was 'the middle of the country.'
...Hamilton argued that the young nation must take measures to promote manufacturing. Manufacturing provides an outlet for agricultural surplus, permitting the market for agricultural products to grow to new heights even while a portion of the labor force is channeled into manufacturing instead. An extensive system of domestic manufacturing completes the system of self-reliance and ensures economic sovereignty. Hamilton lucidly argued in his “Report on the Subject of Manufactures” that America would not reach its economic potential unless it developed a strong manufacturing sector as the backbone of the domestic economy.
Hamilton made a sevenfold case for encouraging manufacturing. First, the division of labor would increase economic efficiency. Second, a large manufacturing sector would encourage technological innovations to improve productive capacity across the board. Third, manufacturing could employ people who were not traditionally engaged in agriculture. Fourth, a thriving manufacturing sector encouraged skilled workers and entrepreneurs to emigrate from Europe, who would bring industrial knowledge and talent that had yet to be established in America. Fifth, manufacturing would furnish a “greater scope for the diversity of talents and dispositions.” Those who were naturally talented in the mechanical arts would be able to develop their talents further to the benefit of the entire community. Sixth, manufacturing would encourage “the spirit of enterprise” by diversifying economic production. The wider the array of occupations and industries, the more dynamic the economy.
Hamilton’s seventh and final argument was that manufacturing would provide a domestic outlet for agricultural goods. The demand for agricultural goods was, he said, “rather casual and occasional, than certain or constant” and their price could often drop sharply due to “a glut in the market.” Likewise, demand could be harmed by tariffs, embargos, and other restrictions set by foreign powers. Domestic manufacturing would expand the domestic demand for foodstuffs, providing a stable market for American farmers.
This final argument in favor of manufacturing is particularly important because it demonstrates the interconnectedness of a national economy. A stable national market, safe from the tumults and geopolitical wrangling of the foreign market, is the best means for securing relative prosperity and a stable living for the great body of citizens. Self-reliance in the most essential economic areas, from Hamilton’s perspective, can only be beneficial....
Instead of Hamilton, they fell for (were purchased by?) the Big Money-Adam Smith Globalists.
... Although Hamilton agreed with Adam Smith on the need for a division of labor, he rejected the Scotsman’s case for free trade. Paradoxically, free trade can slow down economic development. If foreign producers flood the domestic market with cheap goods, then domestic industry cannot get off the ground. Consumers may benefit in the short term from the glut of cheap goods, but national prosperity suffers in the long run from the lost potential of innovation and dynamism that accompanies a strong manufacturing sector....
Is it really necessary to remind the 'altruists' that manufacturing employment does not require college degrees or even high-school diplomas in many cases? Or that when young men have stable, decently-paid jobs that usually are provided by manufacturing, they can attract and keep a wife and raise a family--thus keeping them from selling drugs, stealing cars, and abandoning their progeny, licit or not?
Donald Trump had it right:
...Hamilton warned in his report on manufacturers that foreign competitors paying their workers low wages could flood the market with cheap goods to the detriment of our nascent domestic manufacturers—a lesson that America learned the hard way at the end of the twentieth century. Protective tariffs level the playing field, preserving both business growth and workers' wages....
Heard that from DeSantis? Whale-Boy? Hutchinson? Most-Blessed Pence?
Nah. And you won't, either.
No comments:
Post a Comment