private bank loans; foreign investments by corporations, pensionrnfunds, etc.; foreign aid (perhaps $1 trillion in the ColdrnWar) and IMF, World Bank, and international bank loans;rnU.S. overseas defense expenditures; illicit trade (drugs); illicitrnwealth transfers to evade taxes. Each of these problems can berndealt with by strong action.rnIMPORTS: A 15 percent tariff on all products that competernwith American-produced goods and a wage-equalization tariffrnon manufactures from low-wage countries would rapidly erasernAmerican merchandise trade deficits. Instead of capital goingrnabroad to build plants for the assembly of goods to be sent backrnto the United States, capital would come home to expand ourrndomestic industries and create American jobs. The deep taxrncuts on investment and savings that the new customs revenuernwould finance would make America the most attractive investmentrnsite of all the industrial democracies.rnPRIVATE BANK LOANS: Although America cannot andrnought not impose contiols on the foreign loans or investmentsrnof America’s big banks, all investment banks, mutual funds, andrnpension funds should be put on notice: the next time there isrnanother default, another Mexico, another meltdown in Asia,rnthose who made the profits take the loss. This is neither harshrnnor punitive. Private banks and overseas investors must beginrnto realize that there is no global bankruptcy court to bail themrnout. Once they know their investments are no longer risk-free,rnthe market will solve this problem.rnFOREIGN INVESTMENT AND FOREIGN LENDING:rnAgain, the tariffs, which would wipe out the admission-free accessrnthat foreign countries now have to the American market,rnwould have a chilling effect on the plans of tiansnational corporationsrnto invest abroad or to move factories abroad. Comparativernadvantage would come home.rnFOREIGN AID: Annual wealth tiansfers to foreign regimesrnlike Egypt ($18 billion in cash reserves), Israel (a median incomernabove $16,000), Greece, Turkey, Russia, and Pakistanrnmake little sense. The Gold War is over; it is time for relics likernforeign aid to be entombed. We cannot bribe nations to embracernfree enterprise, and we ought not to pay nations not tornfight one another. Far more serious is backdoor foreign aid, therntens of billions of dollars funneled yearly to foreign regimesrnthrough the IMF, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, etc.rnThese relics of our “Marshall Plan mentality” have becomernglobal-socialist centers for the redistribution of Americanrnwealth. Why should American taxpayers guarantee loans to Indiarnor China, the leading beneficiaries of the World Bank? Ifrnthese governments have worthwhile projects, let them financernthe projects themselves, like we did when we were a developingrnnation. American-taxpayer guarantees for World Bank andrnIMF loans reward nations whose policies rarely merit such rewards.rnOVERSEAS DEFENSE EXPENDITURES: John FosterrnDulles once said that a day was coming when the United Statesrnwould have to conduct an “agonizing reappraisal” of commitmentsrnto defend nations that refused to bear their fair share ofrnthe cost of their own defense. With the Cold War over, thatrnreappraisal is long overdue. NATO should not be expanded;rnnew nations should not be added to the roster of those we are alreadyrncommitted to defending. And Europe should begin tornbear the full economic cost of its own defense. While the UnitedrnStates retains a vital interest in preventing a hostile regime —rnthat of a Hitier or Stalin—from overrunning Europe, that threatrnhas never been more remote: England and France have nuclearrndeterrents; Germany is united and democratic; Russia isrnsmaller than it was in the days of Peter the Great. No threat tornany vital American interest remotely exists in Europe. It is timernto bring American troops home and revise NATO so that Americarnis no longer committed to go to war because some ancientrnborder has been breached or because a forgotten tiip wire hasrnbeen activated in some forsaken corner of the old continent.rnThe proper role of America in Europe is not to be a front-linernfighting state but to be the “strategic reserve” of the West.rnAmerica must restore to itself full constitutional freedom to decidernwhen, where, and whether to involve itself in Europe’srn21st-century wars.rnThe new relationship of America with Europe should bernmodeled on our military relationship with Israel. Where the Israelisrnprovide the troops to maintain their own defense, thernUnited States provides access to advanced weapons. Israel givesrnus no veto over what it does in its own interests, and we give Israelrnno ironclad guarantee that any war that Israel decides tornfight will be our war as well.rnIn Asia, the great threat to stability and security is almost certainrnto come from China. But Beijing is already contained byrngeography: Islam to the west; a nuclear-armed Russia to thernnorth; India and Vietnam to the south; Korea, Japan, and thernAmerican fleet to the east. Any Chinese military move wouldrntrigger an arms race across East Asia. Here, again, the UnitedrnStates should play the role of the arsenal of democracy and sellrnto the nations of Asia the modern weapons they need to resistrnintimidation or defend against Beijing’s encroachments —rnwhile those nations provide the troops themselves. No morernKoreas, no more Vietnams.rnWhen the nations of Europe and Asia understand that they,rnnot we, are primarily responsible for their security, they willrncease acting like dependencies and begin acting like independentrnnations. It is past time for prosperous allies to begin payingrnthe cost of their own defense. Defense of the West can thusrnbegin to enhance, rather than drain, America’s vitality.rnILLICIT DRUGS: Seventy to eighty percent of the marijuanarnand cocaine entering the United States, to destioy the soulrnof America’s young, passes through Mexico. To secure ourrnsouthern border from this deadly traffic, we should cancel thatrnprovision of NAFTA which permits Mexican trucks on America’srnhighways. Second, we should expand the U.S. Border Patiol.rnThird, we should lengthen the triple fence already built atrnSan Diego, which has begun to cut back illegal immigrationrnand complicate life for drug smugglers. Fourth, we should demandrnof Mexico greater cooperation in running down narcoticsrntraffickers, and greater freedom and protection for Americanrnagents operating in Mexico. Finally, though the U.S.rnmilitary does not belong in a policing role, American troopsrnbrought home from abroad should be moved to a southern borderrnthat is certain to be a crisis area in the 21st century.rnILLIGIT WEALTH TRANSFERS TO EVADE TAXES:rnThe scores of billions of dollars in tariff revenue should be usedrnto eliminate taxes on savings, capital gains, and inheritances.rnWith taxes on capital at zero in the United States, departed capitalrnwould come running home and new capital would comernpouring in. Finally, the Republican Party should heed Mises’rnadvice:rnNo party platform is to be considered as satisfactory thatrndoes not contain the following point: As the prosperity ofrnthe nation and the height of wage rates depend on a con-rn18/CHRONICLESrnrnrn