Commentary
Industrial policy—the practice by which governments encourage, support, or protect certain industries—is nearly as old in America as the republic itself. Alexander Hamilton’s “Report on Manufactures” (1791) sought to impose tariffs principally to fund the government. But his tariff policies also had the effect of protecting and encouraging local investment, manufacturing, and industries. Since then, industrial policy has led to the creation of everything from the telegraph to the transcontinental railroad to Google to the Boeing 767 to “Goldfish” snack crackers.
