Coates’s overarching themes are familiar: the plundering of black wealth by the Western world, the hypocrisy at the heart of America’s founding ideals, and the permanence of white supremacy. If The Message departs from his earlier work in any way, it’s that his desire to smear America has been eclipsed by his desire to smear Israel—an exercise that takes up fully half the book. (More about that, which Coates has declared “his obsession,” in a bit.)
Blocking technological advancements is not only bad for the East Coast ‘Stone Age’ port workers, but it’s also bad for America’s competitive edge. Asian and Middle Eastern ports which do welcome technology will continue to grow faster in the long run compared to the U.S. ports. For those who sympathize with MAGA goals, banning technological advancements on U.S. ports is a great “American Last” strategy.
“Xi isn’t a follower of Hayek, but he should be.”
[C]ountries with a relatively young population and a need for domestic investment capital should expect net capital inflows, thus producing a trade deficit. That situation only becomes a problem if these capital inflows are not well-invested; for example, when Greece borrowed money after joining the eurozone, it was mainly spent on government salaries and not investments. Aging societies should invest part of their savings abroad to generate a net capital outflow and automatically achieve a trade surplus. Needless to say, an aging society with significant unemployment should still invest the bulk of its savings at home, but it can still potentially export capital. The trade surplus of such a country is caused by neither unfair behavior nor the country’s export competitiveness—instead, it is caused by the intertemporal decisions of its aging population.
GMU Econ alum Dominic Pino recalls how National Review stood up to a labor union.
