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… is from page 164 of Richard McKenzie’s excellent 1985 book, Competing Visions [2]:
To suggest, in the words of political scientist Chalmers Johnson that “the United States is in danger of ending the 20th century as the leading producer of ICBMs and soybeans, while the Japanese monopolize everything else” is tantamount to saying that the Japanese are so stupid that they will, through their exports, sell off practically everything they have without getting anything concrete in return just to achieve “monopolies,” a contradiction of immense proportions. How could a country smart enough to monopolize world markets be stupid enough never to demand payment in something real and tangible – not just in dollars, which are just so much paper (or blips on a bank’s computer tape) if they are never spent?
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