Thomas Jefferson was an economic idiot. An import embargo he imposed as president cost the country something like 5 percent of gross domestic product, according to modern studies. But we remember his noble ideas, not his skills with a checkbook.
Abraham Lincoln was a protectionist, too. Nobody remembers this, in part because the economy of the times was so different from the modern system, but also because we don’t understand history as a math problem. We remember the characters, the causes, the conflicts, not the bottom line.
In the politics of our own day, we don’t even understand the math problems as math problems. We latch on to the social issues, the human matters, and tune out the wonkery to such a degree that we miss some pretty whopping contradictions.
Here’s one. Candidate Donald J. Trump promised to “drain the swamp,” a catchphrase that’s taken on a life of its own. He also promised to Make America Great Again, by means of tariffs and tougher trade deals and such.
No comments:
Post a Comment