The Aftermath of Hamilton's "Report on Manufactures"

Douglas Irwin

No 9943, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Alexander Hamilton's Report on Manufactures (1791) is a classic document in the history of U.S. economic policy, but its fate in Congress is not well known. It is commonly believed that the report was never implemented. Although Hamilton's proposals for bounties (subsidies) failed to receive support, virtually every tariff recommendation put forward in the report was adopted by Congress in early 1792. These tariffs were not highly protectionist duties because Hamilton feared discouraging imports, which were the critical tax base on which he planned to fund the public debt. Indeed, because Hamilton's policy toward manufacturing was one of encouragement and not protection, those interests shifted their political support from the Federalists to the Jeffersonian Republicans during the 1790s.

JEL-codes: F1 N7 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2003-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hpe
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published as Irwin, Douglas A. "The Aftermath of Hamilton's 'Report on Manufacture'." The Journal of Economic History 64 (2004): 800-821.

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