Liberal policies don’t work even when rebranded as 'conservative'

This essay is a part of The Right Way Forward, Restoring America’s new think tank debate series in which leading conservative institutions argue the defining questions of the post-Trump era. Read about the series here.

Liberal economic policies typically include high taxes, high spending, high levels of regulation, restrictive labor and employment laws, government-sponsored enterprises, subsidies for favored enterprises, price controls, and, until the recent past, higher tariffs. Usually, these are accompanied by money creation to fund the spending, which results in inflation. These policies have a long record of failure both in the United States and abroad. Progressives and socialists typically want this policy mix, but on steroids.