People can bellyache about Donald Trump’s tariff program. Do you have a better idea?

The last time the US had a trade surplus was 50 years ago. The statistics being presented by the Trump administration:

*$1 trillion world trade deficit last year

*90,000 factories have closed down over the past decades

*6 million factory jobs have disappeared

A while back, I had an opportunity to visit a friend in Cleveland. He is a brilliant scientist and has a couple of ventures in the city. When my business partner and I arrived at his office, I was stunned at what I saw. His office is in a former factory that made elevators. Half the buildings remain derelict, with wood-covered windows, graffiti, and decay. Train tracks run through the complex, though a train had not been there in ages. The other building had been repurposed for high-tech companies. In the hallway leading to my friend’s office, hundreds of lockers are no longer in use. I closed my eyes and tried to imagine the numerous workers talking before or after work: what were the plans for the weekend, summer travel dreams, yesterday’s ballgame scores? The place was eerily quiet.

The trip also included a stop in Detroit. If you had asked Martians who bombed Hiroshima and Detroit, they would certainly conclude that the Japanese had bombed Motor City. Endless blocks of boarded-up houses and factory after factory are monuments to better times. One could imagine how things were in the days after World War 2 until the 1980s,........

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