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The ostensible goals are to make the federal government some money and boost US investment for critical technologies. Unfortunately, a US sovereign wealth fund would come with significant downsides for the federal budget, the stock market, the economy and American politics.

As more institutions work with generative AI, demands on those services will increase. AI companies will have to invest more to meet the growing demand for computing power. AI services will also lose their initial venture-capital-funded runways and be forced to make a profit. Over the long term, each use of generative AI will cost a noticeable amount of money.

Endorsing individuals’ freedom to trade with foreigners is simply of a piece with the more general endorsement of individuals’ freedom to trade with whomever they please, whether fellow citizens or not. The protectionist position, in contrast, invariably relies upon arbitrary distinctions that ensnare protectionists in intellectual and ethical inconsistencies.

The case for tariffs as a driver of economic growth has always been weak, and no amount of rebranding every few decades can change that fundamental flaw.