Twenty years ago, it would have been unthinkable. The Republican Party had spent years crowing about the achievements of entrepreneurs, while advising ordinary workers to “pull themselves up by the bootstraps.” Times have changed, however. Quite recently, the right-of-center think tank American Compass, established in 2020,posted “A Guide to Economic Inequality” on the main page of its website. Its founders are not dismissing the problem. Instead, they tell readers that “our economy is failing to spread prosperity” and “our gains are not being widely shared.” The warnings get even more dire. “The longer such trends continue,” warns American Compass, “the greater the threat to our social fabric, our political solidarity, and the legitimacy of our free-market system.”
American Compass is directed by Oren Cass, a former advisor to Mitt Romney, the Republican senator from Utah. He and a growing number of conservatives have become increasingly concerned about the future of American blue-collar labor.
Recommended Reading
American Conservatives Are Working on the Railroads
The Railway Safety Act has made concrete the ideological debate raging between conservatives and libertarians over the role of government regulation in the free market.
A New Conservative Economic Philosophy?
Oren Cass joins WSJ editor at large Gerry Baker for a discussion of the evolution of modern conservative economic thought.
Critics Corner with FreedomWorks’ Phil Bell on the Railway Safety Act
Oren Cass is joined by FreedomWorks’ Phil Bell for a wide-ranging discussion the Railway Safety Act of 2023.
