American Century

The American System of economics, which our nation foolishly abandoned in 1913, acknowledges the fact that a strong and independent country's economic system must be a selfish one. After all, a nation that pays foreigners to buy food and consumer goods which it can readily produce itself cannot thrive. Conceived by the Founding Fathers, the American System consisted of three mutually reinforcing parts: a tariff on imported goods in order to protect and promote American industry; a (true) national bank, issuing a debt-free, redeemable currency; and federal initiatives aimed at promoting national economic independence. It was adherence to these basic principles that made America the greatest economic power on the planet for more than 100 years, and it freed our nation from the yoke of the British System of global "free-trade," which America has been struggling to free itself from since 1776.