“The Hamiltonian moment” or can Alexander Hamilton’s ideas be a guideline for the founding fathers of Europe?

The issuance of a large European loan, an unprecedented increase in transfers within the Community budget with the establishment of EC’s own resources which would allow the Commission to finance itself independently of the member states was stated by Ursula von der Leyden as a “Hamiltonian moment.”

The recovery plan presented on Wednesday 27 May by Ursula von der Leyen to help Europe overcome the economic ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic, has brought down the dogmas that have hitherto prevented the Union from moving towards more "integration."

 Ursula Von der Leyen has announced that the Commission will borrow € 750 billion to help the continent emerge from an unprecedented recession. To take the measure of the effort, it should be recalled that the European budget under discussion, before the recovery plan, represented a total of 1.1 trillion euros over the period 2021-2027.

When, on May 18, Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Emmanuel Macron presented their "initiative" - the issuance of a common European debt of 500 billion euros to subsidize the countries most damaged by the crisis -, many of commentators have spoken of a "Hamiltonian moment" for Europe, in reference to Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, who in 1790 had convinced Congress to create a federal debt, and toppled the American confederation into federalism.

 I would like to use this article to introduce Alexander Hamilton to the European audience.

 Historians see Hamilton as the Founding Father who most effectively defended the principle of a strong, centralized and federal government, and an elastic interpretation of the constitution. He supported the idea of a strong national defense, solid national finances based on a national debt binding the national government to the wealthy men of the country, and a strong banking system. His Report on Manufactures imagined an industrial nation in what was then a rural country.

 Alexander Hamilton was the first and most influential secretary of the treasury. He had a lot of influence on the rest of the government and the shaping of his politics, including foreign policy. Advancing the use of federal power to modernize the nation, he convinced Congress to broadly interpret the Constitution to pass bold laws. They included the creation of a national debt, the federal guarantee of the debts of the States, the creation of a national bank, and a system of tax through tariffs on imports and a tax on whiskey which would pay the whole.

He wrote "The Federalist" (The Federalist Papers) with the assistance of John Jay and James Madison under the pseudonym of Publius. In these essays, he defends the adoption of the Constitution.

 Hamilton was deeply involved in favor of republican principles, expressed most clearly in his Federalist Papers. His nationalist and modernist vision was rejected by the Jeffersonian "revolution of 1800". However, after the weakness brought to light by the War of 1812, former opponents came to emulate its programs by instituting a national bank, tariffs, internal improvements and an army and navy. The later Whig and Republican parties adopted many Hamiltonian themes, but his bad reputation after 1800 did not allow them to recognize him as a direct inspiration until his style of nationalism again took hold around 1900.

 Hamilton proposes a form of federalism that should limit the power of states and increase the rights of citizens. "Hamiltonian" federalism is an instrument of liberalism and the separation of powers, which curbs the pressure of popular sovereignty. It is based on the primacy of the institutions which emanate from the citizens and which assume their decision-making power, but by rejecting any prior political line. This makes it the difference compared to integral federalism in the search for doctrines embracing all political and social domains.

 The reader will have noticed that commentators have a very idealistic view of the political philosophy of our “founding Frau” who is miles away from the political ideas Hamilton cherished...