Put the Libertarians Back in Charge

A COMMON GRIPE in American politics is that for too long, libertarians have been in charge, wielding too much power.

- Peter Suderman

Sometimes this complaint comes from progressives in the mold of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who argue that hands-off economic policy—often derisively cast as “neoliberalism”—has fueled the growth and concentration of corporate power at the expense of small business and labor, resulting in an economy that's rigged against the little guy.

Sometimes this complaint comes from conservatives, particularly New Right voices who insist that libertarians and classical liberals have ignored the consequences of unfettered free markets for American industrial capacity and rural downscale workers while allowing the left to control major cultural institutions. In this view, libertarianism fails to prioritize the interests of America, American values, and ordinary Americans.

The charge has always carried a whiff of desperation, given how little power actual self-identified libertarians have in the corridors of government. But after four years of Joe Biden running a White House that was a hotbed of Warrenite progressivism, and the early months of Donald Trump's presidency marked by all manner of New Right paranoia and kookiness, maybe it’s time to revise the complaint: Libertarians don’t have enough power.