America has a new president, but will the new boss be the same as the old boss? Already we’ve seen the GOP embrace the same failed policies of the past in regard to healthcare and spending. And while Trump hasn’t gone as far as to suggest a universal income, he has made it clear that he has little interest in cutting entitlements. As Jeff Deist points out though, Trump still has the opportunity to make steps in the right direction — largely by rejecting the failed foreign policy of Obama and his predecessors:
Voters plainly want an end to our intractable conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, and they don’t want another dollar or drop of blood expended to install western democracy in the sectarian Middle East. Trump must resolve to stay out of Syria, stop the saber rattling toward Iran, and reject the crazed calls for resurrecting a Cold War with Russia. He must refuse to normalize constant war as an acceptable feature of American life. By trusting his deal-making nature and refusing to start — or intensify — another conflict, Trump could shock the world by actually presenting a kinder, gentler America.
While Donald Trump’s following through with his “America First” foreign policy promises would be a revelation worth celebrating, decentralization is the only true way to Make America Great Again.
On the next Mises Weekends this week, Jeff is joined by John Tamny, a writer and editor at RealClearMarkets and Forbes. They dissect Trump’s economics, especially his reflexive trade protectionism and fetish for exports over imports. They also talk about the policies Trump might get right, especially when it comes to the Fed.
After a chaotic 2016, what is the path forward for liberty? Join the Mises Institute in San Diego, California, for an event dedicated to answering that question. Speakers will include Tom Woods, Jeff Deist, Michael Boldin, Richard Rider, and Nomi Prins. Register today!
And in case you missed any of them, here are the articles featured this week on the Mises Wire:
- German Inflation Anxiety Could Bring an Election Shock in 2017 by Brendan Brown
- Must Libertarians Be Individualists? by Ryan McMaken
- The Failures of Obama’s Foreign Policy by David Gordon
- What Trump Could Do by Jeff Deist
- Inequality Doesn’t Create Poverty by Ryan McMaken
- The Fortunes of Liberalism, in China and around the World by Peter G. Klein
- Oxfam’s Hypocrisy on Private Wealth by Mateusz Machaj and Mateusz Benedyk
- Ludwig von Mises as a Social Rationalist by Joseph T. Salerno
- What Republicans Miss About Healthcare Reform by Tho Bishop
- How Bad Entrepreneurial Judgment Killed Half-Life 3 by Matthew McCaffrey
- The Dangers of a “Universal Basic Income” by Nathan Keeble
- In a Free Market, No Profit is “Excessive” by Ludwig von Mises
- Will Trump Continue the Bush-Obama Legacy? by Ron Paul
- Free Market Economics and Crony Capitalism by Hunter Lewis
- No Country Should Be Bigger Than This by Ryan McMaken
