Headline aside, Roger Scruton does acknowledge that there are some things Trump does get.
And then some he doesn't.
Like trade. It's not zero-sum ($US500 billion deficit with China is not a "loss"to America), protectionism is not "good", as Trump claims, and trade wars are not "easy to win". Free trade used to be a key Republican plank.
Pulling out of TPP remains, in my view, a major strategic mistake by Trump and if he goes after WTO, heaven help us....
Specifically, quoting Adam Smith, Scruton notes:
In another of conservatism's founding documents, "The Wealth of Nations," Adam Smith argued that trade barriers and protections offered to dying industries will not, in the long run, serve the interests of the people. On the contrary, they will lead to an ossified economy that will splinter in the face of competition. President Trump seems not to have grasped this point. His protectionist policies resemble those of postwar socialist governments in Europe, which insulated dysfunctional industries from competition and led not merely to economic stagnation but also to a kind of cultural pessimism that surely goes entirely against the American grain.
