Special Providence_ American Foreign Policy and How It Changed World - Walter Russell Mead

TheRiseandRetreatoftheNewWorldOrder 275

employmentorinlifetimecommitmentstocommunitiesandregions.
Thiswasinevitable;flexibilityandopportunismwerethecharacteristics
thatmadethemsuccessful.
Downsizing,restructuring,andmerger-linkedlayoffsthroughourthe
economyspreaduneaseevenamongthosewhoseincomescontinuedto
rise.Forthemillionsofworkerswhoseincomesdroppedastheirfeelings
ofinsecurityrose,theeconomicchangesoftheeraremainedprofoundly
unpopular,andthemotivesofthebusinesscommunitythatsoenthusias-
ticallycelebrated thenew breed ofcutthroatcompaniesandruthless
CEOsweredeeplysuspect.
Aseriesofinternationalfinancial crisescontributedto thebroad
(thoughbynOmeanS universal)publicuneaseaboutthemeritsofthe
neweconomy.MoreAmericansheardaboutthe$50billionbailoutof
Mexicofollowingthe 1994-95pesocrisisthanheardaboutMexico's
rapidbutgradualrecoveryandrepaymentofthedebt.Theinternational
financialcrisisof1997-98,whichatitsheightposeda genuinethreatto
thestabilityoftheworldeconomy,helpedcementinmanymindsthe
equationoffreemarketswithdangerousturmoil.
Increasingly, many Americans came to associate these negative
changeswithHamiltonianpolicy,andespeciallytheefforttocreatean
open,rule-basedglobaltradingsystem.Theoldanddeep-seatedfearof
cheapforeign-laborcompetitionhadbeena chiefmainstayandsupport
ofHamiltonianpoliticsduringthe 150 yearswhenHamiltoniansstood
for protectivetariffs. In 1896 WilliamMcKinley'spresidentialcam-
paignremindedvotersthattheyhadtheopportunitytovotefor"Bill
McKinley,authoroftheMcKinleyBill,"Oneofthestiffesttariffmeas-
ures everpassed byanAmericanCongress.TheMcKinley tariffwas
givencreditfor"thefulldinnerpail,"the 1896 equivalentofa chickenin
everypot.Sincethen,theAmericancorporateestablishmenthasdramati-
cally reviseditsviewsoffreetrade,butpopularopinionhasremained
skeptical.
DidtheHamiltoniansupportforfreetradesimplyreflectthedesire
ofa greedyandimmoralcorporateelitetoraiseprofitsbyexporting
American jobsto low-wage third-world sweatshops? This suspicion
gainedcredibilityduringthe 1992 presidentialcampaign,whenrevela-
tionsthatAmericantaxpayermoneyhadgonetohelpcompaniesinEl
SalvadoradvertisetheavailabilityofcheaplabortoAmericanfactories
damagedtheBushcampaigninmanyblue-collarhouseholds.
"RosaMartinezproducesapparelfor U.S.markets On her sewing