Promethean Science Tariffs or Economic Ruin?

The Supreme Court ruled 6–3 that Trump overstepped with IEEPA tariffs. Within hours, the administration fired back—reimposing tariffs through Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, and Trade Rep Jameson Greer made it clear: the 35–50% tariffs on Chinese goods aren’t going anywhere. But Ben Deniston cuts deeper than the legal chess match. The real fight is over the future of the American productive economy. Historical data tells a stark story: when tariffs ran 30–50% (1880–1920), productive sectors made up over half of GDP and nearly half of non-farm labor. After NAFTA and the WTO gutted that framework, those numbers collapsed to roughly a quarter of GDP and a fifth of the labor force. Ben Deniston applies a LaRouche-inspired “physical economics” lens — measuring real productive labor and energy throughput, not Wall Street’s GDP fiction. The conclusion? Tariffs aren’t just trade policy. They’re the front line of reversing America’s entropic collapse through reindustrialization and energy expansion. Contact • [email protected] X • https://x.com/Ben_Deniston00:00 Court Blocks Tariffs00:27 Why Tariffs Matter01:42 Supreme Court Response02:50 McKinley on Cheapness03:31 Measuring Productive Economy04:10 American System Golden Age04:47 Postwar Cracks Appear05:19 Deindustrialization Begins06:09 NAFTA and WTO Collapse06:48 Physical Economics Framework07:22 Hamilton and LaRouche08:33 Free Energy vs GDP09:53 American System Philosophy10:59 Rebuild and Call to Action SUPPORT PROMETHEAN SCIENCE!Keep our scientific deep-dives 100% independent by becoming a paid subscriber for just $10 a month.Your subscription supports every analysis revealing mankind as a unique creative force to be celebrated—no academic “trust the science” propaganda.If you value scientific truth that challenges the status quo and want to help us keep illuminating mankind’s creative potential in the universe, hit that subscribe button now and join us in championing human progress. Subscribe for $10 a month Paid subscribers get access to the transcript, links, and references below! 👇 Read the full story Sign up now to read the full story and get access to all posts for paying subscribers only. Subscribe Already have an account? Sign in