RECOMMENDED READING
Today we are announcing the formation of American Compass, an organization dedicated to helping American conservatism recover from its chronic case of market fundamentalism. In preparation, we have been perusing the mission statements of many of our nationâs think tanks. Nearly every group has one. Oddly, the right-of-centerâs preeminent public-policy institutions all have the same one: to advance the principles of âlimited government, free enterprise, and individual libertyâ or âfree markets and limited, effective governmentâ or âfree enterprise, limited government, individual freedomâ or âindividual liberty, limited government, free marketsâ or âeconomic choice and individual responsibilityâ or âindividual, economic, and political freedom; private enterprise; and representative government.â
Without question, those principles are vital. But an emphasis so monotonal is neither supportive of effective deliberation nor genuinely conservative. âWhy donât we look at a policy and just ask, does it expand economic freedom?â suggests Heritage Foundation vice president Jack Spencer. Because there is more to life than economic freedom. Also, there is more to economic freedom than economic freedom. A society that attempts to maximize everyoneâs freedom at every moment will fail miserably in preserving individual liberty and limiting government over time.
What is missing from our public debates is a distinctively conservative approach to economics.
Recommended Reading
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.
Power Failure
Oren Cass reviews Sohrab Ahmari’s new book, Tyranny, Inc., in First Things.
The GOP After Trump
An exposĂŠ on the future of the Republican Party features American Compass’s efforts to lead a return to traditional, family-first values.