Bad Arguments Economically and Historically

I’m a fan of much of Pat Buchanan’s “America First” foreign policy writings in which he expresses the supposedly outrageous idea that the purpose of the national defense establishment should be to defend against foreign aggressors, and not be the aggressor.  Defense, not offense.  But his “America First” economic writings in defense of protectionism are completely wrongheaded, and often historically inaccurate.

The main reason for the wrongheadedness is Buchanan’s pervasive error of the post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy (“after this, therefore because of this”).  An example of this fallacy would be:  1) A rooster crows in the morning; 2) The sun rises shortly after the rooster crows; 3) Therefore, the rooster crowing must cause the sun to rise.

In Buchanan’s case, his entire argument for protectionism rests on a slightly different version of the post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy.  Buchanan’s fallacy is: 1) The Republican Party ushered in forty years of protectionist tariffs, After NAFTA, “Communist China” became “the world’s No. 1 manufacturing power.”

Hillary Clinton would be totally, one-hundred-percent supportive of Pat Buchanan’s Quixotic protectionist crusade.  It would benefit the corporate one percenters who she and her husband have expertly shaken down for years, and who would jump at the chance of benefiting from another round of “pay to play.”  This is the political game in which corporations funnel many millions to the Clintons and their cronies personally, and to their party, in return for onerous protectionist tariffs on their competition that would spike their profits by allowing them to, once again, rip off their American customers.  And of course, there is the old Democratic Party labor union machine that has always been in favor of protectionism for obvious selfish and greedy reasons.  Pat Buchanan just might be Hillary Clinton’s ideal running mate.

One thing Pat Buchanan is right about is that “economic nationalism” has always been the defining characteristic of the Republican Party.  That is why the party has  been such an economic curse on America, having transformed the nation into a corporate welfare/warfare state during the Lincoln regime.

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