[Sam Gamgee]

I sure know mercantilism never worked and was a massive failure. Protectionism tends to only protect industries that have enough lobbyists in Washington to watch over them. Why should their interests be promoted over the common good? Carnegie and Vanderbilt built great empires without government special treatment. Not to mention to mention the principle of freedom, that consumers should be free to choose their goods without government interfering in the process of trade.

[DannyTN]

"I sure know mercantilism never worked and was a massive failure."

You "sure know" that? How? Because some free trader told you? Have you studied history?

Chapter 6 The deliberately forgotten history of Trade"
Excerpts of the rest of the chapters of the book "Why Free Trade doesn't work"

[DannyTN]

By the way, you pointed to Carnegie and Vanderbilt. Do you have any idea how high the import tariffs were in this country when they built their empires?

History of tariffs in the U.S.

Our founding fathers viewed import tariffs as a tax on foreigners wanting to do business in our market. Right now, the import tariff on average is only about 1%. Far less than the taxes paid by a domestic producer. So we are actually incenting off-shoring. Imports should at least be burdened with the same tax load as domestic producers, and I think imports should bear the total cost of supporting the unemployed. And that's the minimum tariffs that should be appllied.

Founding Father's original tax plan

[Dust in the Wind]

Carnegie and Vanderbilt built great empires without government special treatment.

Where did the railroads right of way come from?