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Toward a New Anti-Corruption Statecraft

Matt poses some important questions below about how conservatives must defend anti-corruption statecraft against (tellingly) American libertarians and Chinese communists. I think it is right to suggest that the founders and their generation generally shared a robust sensibility that opposing, combating, and defeating corruption was properly political activity at the regime level.

Whither Corruption and Conservatism?

Oren Cass invited me to contribute to this site not as a conservative but as a lefty and Democrat who is fascinated by the project of intellectual revival in which this network of thinkers is engaged.

Economics in the Age of Trump

City Journal contributing editor Chris Rufo spotlights American Compass’s leading role in challenging the orthodoxy of “growth for growth’s sake.”

“TRIM” the WTO, Don’t Abolish It

It is refreshing to see an increasing number of politicians and pundits from across the political spectrum calling for re-establishing their manufacturing base to address the vulnerabilities exposed in the wake of COVID-19.  The latest is GOP Senator Josh Hawley, calling for the abolition of the World Trade Organization, in a NY Times Op-ed.

Why GOP Can’t Stop Pushing Tax Cuts

American Compass’s Oren Cass discusses the next round of GOP proposals to address the coronavirus pandemic.

The American System: How We Return To An Economy That Lifts All Americans

American Compass’s Wells King outlines his arguments from his essay on “Rediscovering a Genuine American System” in this adaption.

The Free-Market-Fundamentalist Menace

The Senate is finally back in Washington and negotiations over the next coronavirus recovery package are underway. The White House’s initial salvo was reported Monday and includes a capital gains tax cut, a measure to increase entertainment tax deductions, and a payroll tax cut. 

Josh Hawley, the WTO, & the Shifting World Order

Sen. Josh Hawley recently opined in the New York Times about the need for the US to back out of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and engage the global economy with bilateral trade agreements that better reflect American interests.

To Reboot America, Reboot the Power of Hard-Working Americans

Before anyone had heard the term “COVID-19,” working America was already in a crisis.

The Compass and the Territory

No particular worldview or ideology is necessary to see the reality of our political situation today. Due to the reshaping of our psychological and social environment by digital technology–a process laid bare by the unfolding coronavirus pandemic–our “map” of America is now out of date.

On National Growth and Community Well-Being

For my inaugural post here on The Commons, I want to offer a few thoughts on how one of the pillars of the American Compass mission, community, has too often been a blind spot in the prevailing view of the economy.

The Tipped Red Tricycle: Why Economic Growth Is Not Enough

Material standard of living of course matters to families, but so does the ability to take time off when a family member is sick or when a new baby arrives, to be able to afford rent or homeownership, and to have some semblance of a consistent schedule that allows for time together.

This New Think Tank Wants To Reform Conservatism. Republicans Ignore It at Their Peril.

;Columnist Henry Olsen describes American Compass as a “tool with which future conservative leaders can guide the American ship of state.”

Government, Not Markets Can Best Pick Winners

China’s economic rise and the damage inflicted on U.S. industry has been a wakeup call to many U.S. policymakers. But most conventional economists continue to hold firm to their ideological notion that only the market can respond, and that any more proactive government action, particularly focused on key sectors or technologies, is doomed to fail.

A Compass for Navigating the Right’s New Debates

AEI’s Yuval Levin reflects on the role of American Compass in strengthening the debate on the role of the state on the right.

Recovering the American Tradition of Economic Policy

American Compass’s Wells King and Oren Cass and American Affairs’ Julius Krein summarize their arguments from Rebooting the American System in this short adaptation.

Coronavirus Exposes a G.O.P. Divide: Is the Market Always Supreme?

The NYT features American Compass as a new organization with plans to foster debates on economic issues dividing the right, accentuated by the present national crisis.

Podcast: The Return of Conservative Economics

American Compass’s Oren Cass and Wells King join the Bill Walton Show to discuss Rebooting the American System.

The New Fusionism We Need

Almost 60 years ago, Frank Meyer formulated “fusionism.” He explained why 1950s anti-communists, free-market proponents, and social conservatives could unite in a coherent coalition.

From Protecting Essential Workers to Upgrading Essential Industries

The COVID-19 panic has drawn long-overdue attention to the economic and health and financial challenges facing many “essential workers” including nurses and health aides, nursing home aides, slaughterhouse workers, truckers, grocery store clerks and other retail workers, warehouse workers, and others upon whom the daily functioning of our continental society depends.

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