AIER Warns About 'New Right'

It's not the full-throated call for laissez-faire on moral grounds that I'd like to see, but given the statist direction the GOP has pursued in recent years, it's a welcome push-back.

Economist Vance Ginn of Louisiana's Pelican Institute warns the GOP that it risks becoming indisinguisable from the Democrats on economic issues, both in terms of American prosperity and at the ballot box:

Image by Gage Skidmore, via Wikimedia Commons, license.

Embracing free trade is likewise crucial for maintaining America's competitive edge in the global economy. Protectionist measures, as advocated by the "New Right," may offer short-term relief to specific industries but ultimately harm consumers, reduce innovation, and weaken the broader economy. On the other hand, free trade fosters competition that drives technological advancement and delivers lower prices and more consumer choices.

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The alternative -- a retreat into the big-government policies championed by the "New Right" -- would be disastrous. Higher tariffs, increased taxes, and greater government and union control over the economy would exacerbate economic stagnation, fuel inflation, and increase poverty. They echo the failed strategies of progressive leaders like Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson -- policies that expanded government power at the expense of economic freedom and prosperity for ordinary Americans.

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By recommitting to pro-growth principles, the GOP can present a compelling alternative to the electorate and pave the way for a more prosperous future. Or, it can follow the "New Right" down the progressive road to serfdom.

While I don't agree with everything Ginn advocates, his column is both a breath of fresh air and, like Thomas Sowell's recent column, a much-needed warning to the GOP and the American voter.

Win or lose come November, Republicans would do well to listen.

But frankly, with as unhinged as the Republicans have become under Trump, I wouldn't mind seeing Democrats take the initiative here: As it stands now, economic freedom is politically homeless in America.

-- CAV