By Patrick J. Buchanan – January 1, 2002

“Economic unity and political unity are twins: one cannot be born without the other following,” said Friedrich List, the famed German economist and nationalist. Again and again, history has proven List right.

Economic union leads inexorably to political union. The left has always understood this. The right never does, until too late.

When Hamilton created a free-trade zone across 13 states, a strong U.S. central government was baked in the cake. Bismarck used a customs union, the Zollverein, to harness Germany under Prussia’s whip hand.