It is when you jigger the laws to favor it. Look up the navigation act of 1817, and you will understand why New York became the dominant economic player in the United States.
NAVIGATION ACT OF 1817
NAVIGATION ACT OF 1817. The Navigation Act of 1817 was one of many American steps toward national self-sufficiency that followed the War of 1812. An effort to regain the lucrative West Indian trade, which the British had closed after the war, this act stated that all cargo between American ports must only be carried in ships entirely owned by American citizens or belonging to West Indian merchants. Tonnage duties on vessels licensed for coastwise trade were set at six cents a ton on vessels manned by Americans and fifty cents for others.