The winds of political change and the new US trade policy are imperiling the permanence of American exceptionalism. First, expanding tariffs will lead to countermeasures, decreasing global efficiency. Second, higher prices will lower demand for the US consumer, obviating the need to invest in US manufacturing. Third, the political objective of increasing US exports is incompatible with the first two objectives. Furthermore, tariffs cannot generate sufficient revenue.

Asset markets are inflating as the artificial intelligence (AI) frenzy steams forward. From the railway barons to the titans of tech, markets have plowed capital into land grabs when technology introduces new markets. While valuations are not as frothy as prior frenzies, the financial environment is different. Increasing tariffs tax consumption tax a slow growth. The balance sheet of the US is inflated. The result is an economy leveraged beyond its natural rate. This time is

A return to Renaissance thought appeals to artists and scientists, not to economists. That a country forged in a revolt against tariffs would return to mercantilism highlights the change in the global economic order. Multiplying this choice is the venture away from free markets and ideas to one of state-controlled regulation. The incongruence of these policies with the global dominance of US companies, which extract monopolistic rents from foreign consumers. 200 years of grow