Lately, everyone is arguing that the United States got rich off of cotton. The New York Times recently put out a story arguing that American capitalism "begins on the plantation". This completely misunderstands the relationship between slave and serf-based agriculture and industrial capitalism. A dominant agricultural industry is not the foundation for industrial success--it is an impediment. Let me show you why... [ 991 more words ]
http://benjaminstudebaker.com/…/cotton-is-not-what-made-th…/

I have a new piece out at New Republic on the tariffs. The press tends to focus on the short-term economic effects, but these are a price we are deliberately paying to shift investment out of China to our friends in the region, like Vietnam and India. It's part of a new containment strategy: