Source: Washington Post
by George F Will
“Having seen New England, Kentucky’s Henry Clay (1777-1852) was aghast. … ‘In passing along the highway, one frequently sees large and spacious buildings, with the glass broken out of the windows, the shutters hanging in ruinous disorder, without any appearance of activity, and enveloped in solitary gloom. Upon inquiring what they are, you are almost always informed that they were some cotton or other factory, which their proprietors could no longer keep in motion against the overwhelming pressure of foreign competition.’ Somehow New England thrived despite the end of whaling, the southward migration of the textile industry, the departure of many shoemakers, and other supposed setbacks. Protectionists, however, persist in imagining recent calamities that they think validate government curtailments of economic freedom. Hence their lingering preoccupation with the ‘China shock,’ the alleged damage done to American industries and communities by imports from China.” (09/10/25)