Erick Erickson:

For decades, the Republican coalition sat united atop the so-called “three-legged stool” of fiscal conservatism, traditional values, and a peace-through-strength foreign policy. All of these priorities helped to combat the spread of communism, and to create and maintain prosperity at home. But since the collapse of the Soviet Union, some on the right have questioned these orthodoxies as new challenges have arisen, such as the rising cost of living and the breakdown of many communities as the economy evolves.

Some degree of discussion and even reprioritization about what the Right’s agenda should be today is necessary, and welcome. But when such thinking fails to heed the lessons of the failure of economic central planning and instead jettisons conservatism’s longstanding commitment to free markets and limited government, it should be vigorously challenged. Thankfully, new efforts within the conservative movement are doing precisely that, ensuring that Republicans remain committed to free markets and have the policies to address America’s most pressing problems in the 21st century.

Conservative principles have generated economic success in the past. But today, Bidenomics plagues tens of millions of Americans. It has collapsed real wages, led to out-of-control inflation, and given us special-interest-driven governing. But self-anointed populists on the right want to counter Bidenomics with Bidenomics-waving-a-bigger-American-flag, touting trade wars and multi-billion-dollar-wealth transfers to subsidize national industrial policy. They may be correct in some of their diagnoses that Americans feel left behind. But they are better at peddling emotive grievances than they are at honestly analyzing the economic landscape and crafting policies to meet the needs of suffering Americans.

The supposed novelty of big-government solutions coming from self-identified conservatives has piqued the interest of Beltway reporters. But such people have long thrilled to figures on the right who embrace big government. Go figure: Media in Washington, D.C., want to expand D.C.’s influence over our lives. But conservative policy-makers should know better.

Some still do. Americans for Prosperity (AFP), the largest conservative grassroots-advocacy group in the country, has been at the forefront of pushing back against Bidenomics and those who foisted it on us. AFP has made clear the negative effects of Biden’s policies, through such efforts as launching Bidenomics.com and a nationwide accountability tour that will run through the fall.

AFP is also ensuring bureaucracy-first public policy doesn’t drag down the Right. Hence its launch of a new coalition featuring prominent conservative organizations active on Capitol Hill. Its purpose: to advance policies that will deliver relief to disaffected communities across the country with solutions that uphold the values of limited government, flourishing free markets, and individual liberty.

The coalition understands that the real solution to America’s woes lies in freeing people from overbearing bureaucracies and regulatory-captured big businesses, not rewarding them with ever larger shares of taxpayer dollars and incumbent-protecting, D.C.-empowering government control. Both Bidenomics and industrial policy would only make things worse.

Conservative principles of free markets and limited government are assets in the quest to reassert America’s competitiveness and industrial capacity. Contrary to the strawman arguments put forward by proponents of industrial policy and other big-government schemes, those of us committed to free markets understand that manufacturing matters and that it is government regulations and distortions that weaken this critical industry. For manufacturers to succeed, government needs to get out of the way and stop “helping.”

That will still require a real policy agenda, however. This is why the Club for Growth Foundation will soon release a series of white papers on reinvigorating American manufacturing through free-market reforms in areas such as taxes, regulations, energy, and more. These proposals will reflect the common sense at the heart of our shared conservative principles and empower the American people — not bureaucrats in Washington.

Populists, Left and Right, may claim that they hate the disconnected D.C. blob and its entrenched interests. But in actuality, their agenda is the most swamp-friendly option available. Their grandiose schemes of government intervention and protectionist measures promise jobs and economic vitality. After generating plenty of billable hours for lobbyists and lawyers, they would deliver job security for bureaucrats and economic windfalls for the well-connected. The average American will experience the fruits of central planning in the form of larger tax bills, soaring deficits, and higher prices.

Industrial-policy proponents may claim to have the interests of working-class Americans at heart. But their policies will do more harm than good. By protecting entrenched industries and stifling competition, they prevent new entrants from entering the market and thus increase costs for consumers, and hamstring American producers from access to the markets they rely on. They hurt the very people they claim to help.

That is why former vice president Mike Pence’s newly launched American Solutions Project is tackling self-defeating tariffs as a top policy priority. While tariffs can be used surgically for national-security purposes that benefit the United States, tariffs raise costs for consumers on the whole, costing jobs, hurting manufacturers, and making America less competitive on the world stage. Advancing American Freedom understands that industrial policy will not work to uplift Americans — free-market policy will.

The best way for policy-makers to achieve actual results for their constituents is to show how economic freedom can help lower- and middle-income Americans expand opportunities for themselves and their families. The Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity (FREOPP) is bringing some of America’s most innovative policy researchers to Capitol Hill with monthly briefings to get Hill staff up to speed on free-market solutions to society’s most serious issues. FREOPP has a special focus on those issues that national conservatives and others want to paper over with more government subsidies and micromanagement. FREOPP’s work is vital in ensuring that policymakers can apply our foundational principles to the problems of both today and tomorrow.

At a time when Americans feel left out of the political process, these and groups such as the National Taxpayers Union, Taxpayers Protection Alliance, Stand Together, and others are ensuring that policy-makers have solutions that can bring Americans relief without surrendering to the siren songs of class warfare, wealth redistribution, and bureaucratic corruption that come with industrial policy.

The status quo in Washington will not be overcome by making politics more entertaining on social media or by pushing Bidenomics wrapped in Republican talking points. It will be overcome by recommitting to the Founders’ vision of a limited federal government, by producing policy solutions embodying those principles to solve today’s problems, and by working with policy-makers to implement them.

Conservative principles have delivered prosperity and opportunity for all Americans by embodying trust in American communities and families first rather than in government agencies and the Washington swamp. Luckily, even though its members may not always be the loudest voices on social media, there remains a vibrant conservative movement capable of delivering on this commitment.

Tyler Durden:

Bidenomics 101: the American dream of owning a home has become the American nightmare for almost half the US population.

As housing specialist Redfin reports, rising home prices and mortgage rates “are making it harder to believe in the American dream of homeownership. Lack of affordability is the most commonly cited reason renters don’t believe they’ll ever own a home.“

The details are dire: Nearly two in five (38%) U.S. renters don’t believe they’ll ever own a home, up from roughly one-quarter (27%) less than a year ago.

This is according to a Redfin-commissioned survey of roughly 3,000 U.S. residents conducted by Qualtrics in February 2024. This report focuses on the 1,000 respondents who indicated they are renters. The relevant questions were: “Do you believe that you will ever own your own home in the future?” and “Which of the following are reasons you aren’t likely to purchase a home in the near future?” The 27% comparison is from a Redfin survey conducted in May and June 2023.

Lack of affordability is the prevailing reason renters believe they’re unlikely to become homeowners. Nearly half (44%) of renters who don’t believe they’ll buy a home in the near future said it’s because available homes are too expensive. The next most common obstacles: Ability to save for a down payment (35%), ability to afford mortgage payments (33%) and high mortgage rates (32%). Roughly one in eight (14%) simply aren’t interested in owning a home.

 

Buying a home has become increasingly out of reach for many Americans due to the one-two punch of high home prices and high mortgage rates. First-time homebuyers must earn roughly $76,000 to afford the typical U.S. starter home, up 8% from a year ago and up nearly 100% from before the pandemic, according to a recent Redfin analysis. Home prices have skyrocketed more than 40% since 2019, due to the pandemic homebuying frenzy and a shortage of homes for sale. And the current average 30-year fixed mortgage rate is 6.82%. While that’s below the 23-year-high of nearly 8% hit in October, it’s still more than double the record low rates dropped to in 2020.

Home prices have risen 7% in the last year alone, and monthly mortgage payments have risen more than 10%, which helps explain why renters today are more likely than they were last year to say they don’t see themselves owning a home anytime soon.

Many renters can’t fathom homeownership because they’re already struggling to afford their monthly housing costs. Nearly one-quarter (24%) of renters say they regularly struggle to afford their housing payments, and an additional 45% say they sometimes struggle to do so.

Rents have soared over the last few years because so many people moved during the pandemic, upping demand for rentals. The median U.S. asking rent is roughly $2,000, near the record high hit in 2022–but the good news for renters is that prices aren’t growing nearly as fast as they were during the pandemic, partly because an influx of apartment supply is taking some of the heat off prices.

“Housing costs are high across the board, but renting is a more affordable and realistic option for many Americans right now–especially those who have never owned a home and aren’t able to tap into equity from a previous sale,” said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather. “While owning a home is usually a sound longterm investment, the barriers to entry and upfront costs of buying are higher than renting. Buying typically requires a sizable down payment and approval for a mortgage–things that are difficult for many people today, when the typical down payment is near $60,000 and mortgage payments are sky-high. The sheer expense of purchasing a home is causing the American Dream of homeownership to lose some of its shine.”

Broken down by generation, Gen Z renters are by far the most likely to believe they will become homeowners (maybe it’s because they are also the dumbest). Just 8% of Gen Z renters believe they’ll never own a home, compared to 22% of millennials, 40% of Gen Xers and 81% of baby boomers.