Alexander Hamilton’s Wisdom And Tech Public Policy

By Paul Steidler: The wisdom of Alexander Hamilton’s pragmatism is resurgent among America’s government and business leaders, and it is coming at a crucial time. The world is increasingly turbulent, and the United States is fortunate to have a strong business sector, especially a strong tech sector, to address the challenges at hand.

Renowned Wall Street Journal columnist and academic Walter Russell Mead examines these issues in depth in a lengthy August 20 Foreign Affairs article. It merits not only a careful read but ongoing study and reflection by policymakers.

In a reassuring, well-reasoned, and documented manner, Mead makes the case that time-tested American values, as enunciated and taught by Hamilton, will continue to serve us in the digital age.

Hamiltonian pragmatism, writes Mead, “offers a grand strategy that actively promotes U.S. commerce, American patriotism, and enlightened realism in foreign affairs.”

He continues, “The first critical idea from Hamiltonian thought is that business is the foundation not only of the United States’ wealth (and therefore of its military security) but also of its social and political stability.”

Fast forward to 2024, and “Information today plays a growing role as the basis of military power, of the economic strength that makes military power affordable, of a viable arms industry, and of both defensive and offensive cybersecurity capabilities.”

As a result, “Washington is going to worry more about whether its leading tech companies are strong enough and well resourced enough to stay ahead of their Chinese rivals than about whether U.S. tech companies are becoming too big. Future presidents are more likely to push back against European Union efforts to impose heavy antitrust fines on U.S. tech companies than to impose similar rules at home.”

To read the full article, click here.