Tag: tariffs

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Spencer Morrison
How Tariffs Will Bring Our Jobs Home & Revive the American Dream
Washington, D.C.: Calamo Press, 2025

“In 1721 Prime Minister Robert Walpole instituted a coherent trade policy which was explicitly designed to turn England into the world’s factory. This was based on Walpole’s observation – the same observation made by King Edward III or Queen Elizabeth I before him – that it was far more profitable to sell refined goods than raw goods. It was better to sell cloth than wool, ships than lumber, and swords than iron ingots.”

–Spencer Morrison (more…)

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American foreign policy is in disarray. Once the architect of a global order based on alliances, commerce, and shared values, the United States now seems confused about its mission in the world. Under Donald Trump, that confusion has deepened. His trademark slogan, “America First,” has not translated into a coherent strategy. (more…)

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Part 1 here. Part 2 here.

So given what we learned in part 2 about capital accumulation, the role of human capital in that process, and the nature of genetics and intelligence, what is the best way for the West and East Asia to help not only themselves but the entire world in the long run? (more…)

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April 30, 2025, will mark the passing of the first 100 days of Donald Trump’s second term. This benchmark refers to the 100 days between Napoleon Bonaparte’s return to France from Elba Island to his final defeat at Waterloo. It also refers to the flurry of legislation Franklin Delano Roosevelt passed just after he took office in 1934. (more…)

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I was recently asked if President Trump is at risk of a palace coup given the ongoing stock market massacre. Some very powerful people have indeed lost a lot of money. Boomers are fedposting about their 401Ks. (more…)

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Mark Carney

Mark Carney, the first prime minister in Canadian history to be sworn in without holding any form of elected office in any capacity, called an election on Sunday March 23, 2025, from the grounds of Rideau Hall. In fact, this election will be the first time that Carney’s name has appeared on an election ballot. (more…)

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While Trump 2.0 may have put the idea of red state secession in the United States somewhat on hold for at least the next four years, it has implanted the very same idea in Canada. Using the massive US-Canada trade imbalance as a starting point, Trump is putting his America-first policies into play by tariffing Canada as much as Canada has been tariffing the United States. (more…)

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President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shake hands during a joint press conference, Monday, Feb. 13, 2017, in the East Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)

President Donald Trump was set to impose a 25% tariff on imports from Canada starting on Tuesday February 4. After two last-minute phone calls on Monday, Trump and Trudeau agreed on a temporary duty-free 30-day ceasefire.

Investigative news outlet Blacklock’s Reporter summarized the situation:

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau only 36 hours after pledging to lead a Team Canada fight against American tariffs yesterday offered numerous concessions in exchange for a 30-day reprieve from U.S. President Donald Trump. No legal text of an agreement was detailed: “We work together.” (more…)

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One of the things I like about Donald Trump’s promise to impose tariffs is how it places the needs of American producers over the needs of American consumers. With strong tariffs in place, consumers might be forced to pay more for superior goods than they normally would, or simply pay more for goods in general. This naturally happens when government artificially influences the market. Without fair competition from foreign goods, domestic producers face less pressure to reduce their prices. By increasing the prices of foreign goods, government is in effect reducing its supply for the majority of consumers, who would not realistically be expected to pay such higher prices. And with reduced supply comes higher costs. (more…)

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President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shake hands during a joint press conference, Monday, Feb. 13, 2017. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)

There is a glimmer of hope here in the north amid the crushing misery. Even though the president-elect has yet to be formally inaugurated, the Donald J. Trump effect has had a wide-ranging political and metapolitical impact like the blast wave from a colossal high explosive detonation. When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was summoned to Mar-A-Lago last month, Trump quite rightly threatened little potato Trudeau with 25% tariffs on all Canadian goods if he did not get his house in order as far as immigration, security, drug trafficking, and defence spending were concerned. The weighty message sent Trudeau into panic mode, which will soon bring down his disastrous reign. (more…)

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All liberal, socialist, and Marxist societies, regardless of their specific economic system, have one thing in common: They are all tied to the economy. (more…)

Milton Friedman

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Libertarianism can elicit strong reactions from dissidents these days, largely because it has been such a common gateway drug for the Right. Many white identitarians today came of age as libertarians, and so have intimate knowledge not only of that marvelously balanced and consistent belief system, but of all the reasons why they ultimately abandoned it. Libertarianism, despite its virtues, has nevertheless proven inadequate as a political ideology, and is therefore a recipe for defeat for those who wish to stem or reverse the rising tide of the Left. This does not mean, however, that libertarianism should be abandoned completely. (more…)

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Robert Lighthizer
No Trade Is Free: Changing Course, Taking on China, and Helping America’s Workers
New York: Broadway Books, 2023

See also: “Intrigue in the Indo-Pacific,” “After the Empire of Nothing,” “The Fall of the Neoliberal Order,” and “Globalism”

It is no secret that Americans have suffered under the free trade ideology which came to the fore during the Clinton years. In the 1990s, for example, every small town in Illinois had a factory. (more…)