To put it mildly, economic liberalism is not in vogue.

In the United States, the energy in the Democratic Party is with self-described socialists who reject free markets and support, say, government-owned grocery stores. On the right, Vice President JD Vance argues that economic growth is overrated, that economic science might be “fake,” and that the bipartisan liberal consensus on economic policy has “failed” for the last four decades. Attacks on economic liberalism are increasingly common from think tanks, commentators, and economists, as well.

Critics argue that liberalism has not delivered broad-based prosperity — an attack that can be convincingly defended against in the comfortable language of statistics and quantitative analysis. But their critique goes further, asserting that liberalism is morally corrosive. This critique, too, is off base.

On the former, just a few facts and calculations: The free enterprise system has delivered employment opportunities and rising wages, living standards, and wealth. The rate at which people ages 25 to 54 participate in the workforce is currently higher than it was at the onset of the 2008 financial crisis or the Covid-19 pandemic. Adjusted for inflation, the average wages for nonsupervisory workers has increased by 41 percent over the last three decades. Real median household income grew by 39 percent from 1994 to 2024, the most recent year data are available.

Real household income for the bottom 20 percent........

© National Review