Where Have All the Free Marketers Gone?

There was a time when the Republican Party could be counted on to defend the free market. Capitalism was never perfect, but at least Republicans acknowledged that, over time, the system created the most good for the most people. Regulations and big-government bureaucracy were seen as interference with the market, and accordingly, Republicans generally promoted the narrative that they wanted to reduce both. The freer the market, the better. Reagan famously proclaimed during his first inaugural address that “Government is not the solution; government is the problem.” Republican campaigns—right up to the last national race for the presidency—were often built around the argument that Democrats were for big government, more regulation, and would bring socialism to our country.

Fast forward to today. While the world is embroiled in a debate over the effectiveness of tariffs, the discussion we should be having is about the damage tariffs represent to our tradition of capitalism and free markets. The recent Trump proposals constitute not just an unprecedented level of interference but truly rise to the level of central planning not found in any Western country. You need to look to Russia and China for comparable levels of economic control.

While this may at first glance seem preposterous, consider the reality. Trump and his team are engaged in writing new rules—regulations, in fact—regarding every aspect of what were once free markets. They, not the market, want to decide who competes with whom, from whom we buy goods and services, how much we buy, and to whom we sell. They want to determine which countries, companies, and industries will receive exemptions from tariffs and which will not. And in doing so, their goal is clearly not zero tariffs. It is to pick winners and losers. They want to decide which businesses should thrive in the U.S. and which should not. And rather than rely solely on regulation to do so, they want to interfere through taxation—tariffs—with every company and consumer buying decision.

There were many voices on the right warning of the perils of socialism if Kamala Harris were elected. I hope they will now find their voice and speak out, as the greatest threat to free markets and capitalism in our history is being organized by a Republican president. And let us not forget the wisdom of Milton Friedman in his book Capitalism and Freedom: you cannot have one without the other.