economies linked by government-regulatedrntrade is replaced . . . by an increasinglyrnintegrated global economy beyondrnthe reach of national regulation, powerrnchanges hands.” Unfortunately, the newrnhands care nothing about America.rnProduction networks, joint ventures,rnand other business alliances no longerrnparallel geopolitical alliances as theyrnonce did. A century ago, the French governmentrncould support its national firmsrnand investors in their development ofrnRussia’s infrastructure within a system ofrnalliances. Fifty years ago, the UnitedrnStates could do the same with the MarshallrnPlan and NATO. Today, Americanrnfirms are lured to China, a strategic rivalrnof the United States. Beijing then pressuresrnAmerican businesses to advocaternappeasement policies to protect their investments,rnand so the flag is now expectedrnto follow trade—even when that tradernis manipulated by a foreign power.rnBusiness today operates outside thernbounds of the national community.rnYet the duty of government remainsrnwhat it has always been: to maximize thernwealth, security, and well-being of its citizens.rnA permanent, reciprocal relationshiprnbetween service and allegiance continuesrnto exist. The nation-state has itsrnroots in history, culture, and mutual securityrn—interests far more comprehensivernand essential than anything a privaterncorporation can know or acknowledge.rnIndeed, while few things are as transientrnas a business deal or workplace loyalty,rndemocracy strengthens national bondsrnby making the government directly responsiblernto citizens of the territorialrnstate.rnIt does, that is, if democracy is allowedrnto work. Shutting Congress out of tradernnegotiations with executive agreementsrnand “fast track” procedures has clearedrnthe field for corporate domination. Therntransnational fill trade policy advisoryrncommittees. President Clinton’s firstrnUndersecretary of Commerce for InternationalrnTrade, Jeffrey Garten, acknowledgesrnthat “the executive branch dependsrnalmost entirely on business forrntechnical information regarding tradernnegotiations.” A government having nornindependent capabilities will end up asrnthe junior partner in any endeavors withrntransnationalists, who do have an agendum.rnNo wonder talks are focused onrnbroad regional or global pacts that giverncorporations maximum room to maneuver,rnrather than on bilateral negotiationsrnThe Great Betrayalrna No site better captures yesterday’s America than Detroit, forge andrnfurnace of the arsenal of democracy. Detroit is the burned-outrncase of American cities. The Empire of the Sun has its revenge. Japanesernimports helped kill the city that built the weapons that destroyed the empire.rnNow grandsons of soldiers of the imperial army work at high-payingrnmanufacturing jobs once held by the fathers of ten-dollar-an-hour retailrnclerks in Macomb County.rn”But why blame the Japanese? We did it to ourselves. . . . It is notrnJapan’s fault, China’s fault, or Mexico’s fault that Middle America hasrnbeen abandoned, that our manufacturing base has shriveled, that foreignersrnmake the things Americans once made for themselves. It is our fault.rnLike rich and pampered children who never worked for their inheritance,rnwe listened to cloistered academics peddling pet theories and squanderedrnan estate that was the awe of mankind. As we noisily boast of America’srn’leadership,’ tough-minded rivals laugh behind our backs and loot usrnblind on the road to the end of the American Century.”rn—Patrick J. Buchanan on the end of the American Century.rnto secure exclusive advantages for producersrnbased in the United States.rnBuchanan cites Wilhelm RSpke’srnstatement that “The market is not everything.rnIt must find its place in a higherrnorder of things…. It must be firmly containedrnwithin an all-embracing order ofrnsociety.” Conservatives, who oncernrevered Ropke, should also rememberrnhis fellow Austrian economic philosopher,rnJoseph Schumpeter, who warnedrnthat “the ledger and the cost calculationrnabsorb and confine. . . . [The businessman]rnis ill equipped to face the problems,rnboth domestic and international,rnthat have normally to be faced by a countryrnof any importance.” Even the largestrncorporations seem small by comparisonrnwith the greater American society and itsrneconomy. Yet their lobbies exert enormousrnpower within the smaller society ofrnthe Washington Beltway: here is thernAchilles’ heel of the American polity.rnThat a few million dollars spread aroundrnbetween political campaigns, thinkrntanks, and lobbyists can influence thernleadership of a superpower with an eightrntrillion dollar economy should givernpause to the most enthusiastic believer inrnrepresentative government.rnBuchanan’s policy prescriptions arernmeant to redirect economic activity fromrnoverseas to America. Given the magnitudernof the task, they are actually quiternmodest. The core of his proposal is a 15rnpercent across-the-board revenue tariffrnon manufactured goods intended to giverndomestic producers a small advantagernover foreign imports. This would be supplementedrnby a wage-equalization tariffrnimposed on products whose main competitivernadvantage comes from the use ofrncheap labor—an idea that goes back asrnfar as Teddy Roosevelt. ThoughrnBuchanan’s program is being denouncedrnby critics as “extreme,” the realrnproblem is that it may not go far enough.rnRobert Bartley of the Wall Street Journalrnattacks a straw man in assertingrnBuchanan’s tariffs to be “new taxes.” Inrnfact, Buchanan plans to use the revenuerngained from foreign imports to replacerntaxes levied on American wages andrnsalaries. This strategy would provide arndouble incentive: with production overseasrnmore heavily taxed than productionrnin the United States, transnational firmsrnwould find encouragement to locate operationsrnhere. Buchanan wants to reversernthe trend begun by Woodrow Wilsonrnwhen he imposed the income taxrnwhile cutting tariffs. Indeed, every newrn30/CHRONICLESrnrnrn